Chasing Shadows
by Ladyhawk1709
Summary: Sometimes you have to chase your past in order to get over it, but that's easier said then done when it is also chasing you.
1. Burn your life down

**A/N: **This story is nothing like Flickers. Just thought I'd give you all a heads up before you start reading it. Some of you aren't going to like this story, others might learn to love it in time. And some of you might even love it from the start. This story has been bugging me for some time now, even been the reason for blocking Flickers at times. So trust me when I say, I have no choice, but to write it.

**Disclaimer: **This is not rated M for the hell of it, it's there for a reason. Unfortunately, it won't be for the fun reasons just yet. If you expect a story filled with nothing but smut, turn around now. If you expect it to be nice and fluffy, hit the back button. I will not warn you when things get ugly. I will not warn you of the occasional smutty bits. I have only one advice for all of you: **Proceed at your own risk.**

**P.S:** The only way I own Skins is on dvds (and in my head). I'm not making any money off of this and I doubt I ever will.

**Chapter 1: Burn your life down.**

Her own screams reached her ears, desperate and broken. Her voice was getting hoarse now, breaking midway through. She flopped back on the bed, panting, her eyes not really seeing anything. She could feel her own sweat making it's way down her body. She tried to focus on her breathing just like she'd been taught, but it wasn't working. Pain was still shooting up her body, she could feel her muscles contracting, fighting it. She could hear the faint buzzing of the fluorescent lights above her. She thought it was funny what your brain chose to focus on and what it seemed to ignore.

"Alright, here comes another one." The voice drifted towards her, taking her out of her own head for a second, it enveloped her. It was a nice voice, a non threatening one. "Are you ready?" It asked. She wanted to tell him to shove it, wanted to curse at him, but pain once again claimed her tongue and the angry words turned into another hoarse cry instead. Why did he even bother asking? It wasn't like she was in any position to answer.

The pain was getting worse, she felt like something was ripping her in two. In a sense, maybe something was. She managed a feeble grin at the thought, it looked more like a snarl to the people watching.

"Are you sure we can't call anyone for you?" A new voice asked, a female one. She remembered her, the condescending bitch who had taken her to this room. She wanted to kill her, but gritted her teeth and answered.

"There's…" She panted, trying to make her voice sound as strong as possible, it just sounded pathetic. "… no one to call." She managed to get out, flinching slightly at her own words. It was only half the truth. "Stop... Fucking... Asking!" Her voice was raw, quick bursts of air filled her lungs.

Another ripple of pain shot through her and she was screaming again. The scream mercifully drowned out what she knew was a sympathetic answer. Her hands twisted the sheets below her into knots as the pain seemed to escalate, she heard them rip, at least she hoped it was the sheets that was ripping.

"Breathe through it, ms Campbell." The calm male voice told her, she tried following his directions, but couldn't really make her body comply. "That's it. It's almost over now, just a little bit longer. You're doing great." She wanted to laugh in his face, mock his enthusiasm, it wouldn't come out though. The pain was more or less constant now, she knew he was right. It would be over soon, but this was never one of the things she had worried about. No, what she really was worried about would come when all this was done.

Hours later, or maybe it was only minutes, she could feel the pressure building, feel something pressing to get out, slipping out of her. She screamed a final time, cursing her life, her luck and the timing of it all. For a whole second her whole world is silence. Blissful, ignorant silence. A tiny, feebly cry shattered the illusion and she could feel air rushing back in her lungs in response.

"Congratulations ms. Campbell. It's a beautiful baby girl." She lifted her head to look at the little bundle they placed on her chest. It was the ugliest thing she had ever seen. She never knew something could be slimy and crusty at the same time. It made weird noises, it sounded like something between a wail and a sob. She scrunched her face up, trying to find the beauty in the tiny bundle, but couldn't see past all the goddamn goo.

Suddenly, a pair of startling blue eyes opened, a tiny hand shot up and grabbed hold of her finger and the strange wailing sound stopped. The ache in her body seemed to fade into the background as she stared into the eyes of her daughter and she knew she would do whatever she needed to do to protect her.

**-CS-**

A faint humming was what woke her, her hand automatically went under her pillow, she came up empty of course. Her eyes snapped open, body tensing. A twinge of pain, nearly made her gasp out loud, but she suppressed it. Scanning the room in front of her, she came to the conclusion that the humming was coming from behind her. From where her baby girl was sleeping.

Grabbing the first thing she could get her hands on, she swung out of bed as fast as her still aching body would let her, a wordless growl following her actions. Her hand drew back, swinging, before she had even gotten her legs planted on the floor. The sight that greeted her when she turned around, made her stop just in time. A pair of calm blue eyes looked back at her, almost the exact shade as her daughter's. The humming stopped and the bedside lamp she had grabbed, fell to the floor.

"Nice to see you too." He smirked, looking back down at the tiny little bundle in his arms. She felt herself relax as much as the surge of adrenaline would let her.

"Did anyone see you come in?" She asked, taking a moment to just soak up his appearance. Even sitting down he had the grace of a predator, the look of someone ready to pounce at a moments notice. It didn't matter that he had a barely 12 hour old baby in his arms.

"Do you think I'd be here if anyone saw me come in?" The steely glint in his eyes, the barely concealed anger at having to sneak around, was clear. "I had to see her." His eyes dropped to the baby, softening instantaneously.

"I wish you could have been here when she was born. Probably best if you weren't though, I wanted to kill every last person in there." She tried to take the sting out of her words, the accusations, he still picked up on them. He had always been the one that could read her better then anyone else. "It doesn't matter now I suppose."

"Of course it matters, Gina. Don't you think I wanted to be here? Don't you think I got in the car the second I heard your message?" He got to his feet, careful not to jostle the bundle in his arms too much. His voice was even, emotionless to anyone that didn't know him. She knew him though, this was killing him on the inside. She held her arms out for the baby, he placed it gently into her arms.

"It's ok. I knew you couldn't come, I knew what I was getting myself into when I fell in love with you." She shot him a half smile and sat down on her bed, wincing slightly as she lowered herself.

"It doesn't make it right though." He sat down next to her. "You deserve better, you both do." She leaned into him, savouring his warmth, the smell of his skin. His arm came up and drew her closer.

"I love you." She murmured against him. "And I love her." Her arms squeezed the tiny bundle in her arms closer. She felt him sigh.

"I'm sorry I ever got you into this shitty situation. I never imagined this for us." She looked up at him, he was staring at the window. "I should have never agreed to the last job."

"You couldn't have predicted what would happen, no one could." She carefully rearranged her hold on the baby and placed her hand on his thigh. "It's not your fault the guy was a scumbag, or that he flipped halfway through." He made a noise in the back of his throat. "It's not." She insisted.

"I should have seen the signs. He was always asking what the next step was, always second guessing my decisions. I should have known he was going to rat me out. It's my fault they're dead." His voice had taken on that emotionless edge again.

"Look at me." She reached up and grabbed his face, giving him no choice but to comply. He met her eyes reluctantly. "You did everything you could to save them. You killed for them, for Christ sake. You might have lost two, but you saved the rest." He opened his mouth to speak and she quickly placed her finger up against it to silence him. "If you hadn't, you wouldn't have been here to see her. Actually, none of us would be here, you saved us both, remember? Did you know she has your eyes?" She removed her finger, indicating she was done. He stared at the tiny bundle in her arms for a few seconds.

"She has my eyes?" He looked up at her again, amazement plain on his face.

"Almost the exact shade too. The doctors told me it might change, but…" She trailed off as she looked down at her baby girl, who chose that moment to open her eyes. "See?" She whispered, feeling him lean closer. "There is no way to deny she's yours, no way anyone will be fooled into thinking anything else. At least not the people that know you." The baby blinked, waving her hands around, grabbing for something to hold on to.

"Where are you going when you get out of here? You can't go back to the flat." He extended his arm, caressing the baby's cheek, a tiny hand grabbed onto the finger when he tried to pull his hand back. "She does have my eyes." He looked up at her, his eyes pleading. "You have to run, if they find you… One look at her and they'll know, they'll use her to get to me."

"I know." She sighed. "I'm going to my mum's, it's quiet and out of the way. People think we hate each other. She can protect us, you know what she's like." He cracked a smile at the statement, his whole face lighting up.

"No shit. I thought she was gonna take my head off when she found us in bed together when we were kids." She laughed at the memory. He had run out of the house, his pants clutched in his hands, her mother running after with a shotgun in her hands. "The woman was bloody terrifying." He smiled at her as she wiped the tears of mirth out of her eyes.

"Exactly. It'll be the perfect place for us to hide. At least until you can come back." His face fell.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone. How long it's going to take me to track him." She stared into the eyes of the only man she had ever really loved and saw the sadness in there, the exhaustion.

"I'll wait for you, you know that. We both will." She watched him sigh and look up at the clock on the wall.

"I have to go, rounds starts soon. I can't stay here." He got off the bed, bending down and kissing her softly. Gently, he pried his finger free from his daughter's grip, before placing a kiss to her forehead. "She's beautiful. You did good." He said with a smile, still not taking his eyes of the baby who had fallen asleep again sometime during their conversation.

"We did good." She corrected, watching sadly as he moved over to the window. His eyes scanned the darkness, before opening it.

"I love you both with all I have in me, don't forget it." He slipped out into the night before she had a chance to reply, closing the window behind him. She sat there for a few seconds, staring numbly at it, willing him to come back before she got up and gently laid her daughter down in her crib.

She had just picked up the lamp from the floor, when she heard the window open slightly again, his head sticking in. "I forgot to ask, what's her name?" She rounded on him, smiling slightly.

"Her name is Naomi." He smiled at her words.

"Naomi." He breathed, eyes seeking out the tiny bundle, a huge smile on his face.

**-CS-**

She stood at the edge of the gravel road, looking towards the house at the end of it. She could just make out the stream of smoke from the chimney against the forest behind it in the night. The windows were all dark, but that didn't surprise her all that much. She took a last drag of her cigarette and took the time to breathe in the night air, before getting back in the car. Her eyes went to the car seat, hands checking if Naomi was still strapped in securely.

"Ready to meet your grandma, little one?" She asked the sleeping infant, gently placing a kiss on her forehead. The baby never stirred. "I hope you are, because I'm not. Fuck, I don't even know what to tell her." She sighed and started the car up again.

The last part of the drive is over too fast, or maybe not fast enough. Parts of her couldn't wait to see her mother, other parts wanted to just scream in terror and run away. The last time she had seen her, was the day she had left with Naomi's dad. She never really said good bye, just left in the middle of the night, so in a way it was fitting that she'd return the same way. Lights suddenly came on, flooding her vision for a moment, so much for a stealthy return.

She sat in the car, motionless, watching the house. Nothing happened that she could see, but she knew her mother would be on the other side of one of the windows, shotgun aimed at the car. She opened the door slowly, hands casually falling open, stretching slightly away from her body. She turned towards the house, leaving the car door open. It took about 10 seconds before the front door opened, she hadn't moved a muscle while she was waiting.

"You're lucky I didn't shoot you." She lifted her eyes to her mother's face, surprised at the age she saw there. Only the eyes had remained the same, determined, unflinching.

"Nice to see you too, mum." She answered, eyes still roaming over her mothers form. She was thinner than she remembered, the hair was greyer, but what really threw her was the way she seemed frailer somehow. Her mother had always been a force of nature, stronger then anyone she had ever known.

"Well? Are you gonna stand there all day, or are you coming in? Lord knows, I'm not getting any younger." The woman turned her back and shuffled into the house. Gina sighed and walked around the car to get Naomi. She cast a last glance up at the looming house, sighing softly to herself again before following her mother.

The kitchen looked exactly the same, her mother had her back to the entrance not even looking up from where she was standing. Gina heard the kettle flick on and sat the seat with Naomi in it, gently down on the table.

"Is that why you're back?" Gina looked up and found her mother staring intently at Naomi.

"Partly. It's a long story." She answered.

"Just give me the cliff notes then. I take it the kid is yours?" Her mother walked closer, still looking at the baby.

"Mum, meet Naomi. Naomi, meet your grandma." Gina simply answered. Watching as her mother unbuckled the belts and lifted Naomi out of her seat.

"Why on earth would you name the poor thing after me." She huffed, but Gina saw the corners of her mouth twitch, her eyes softening. Naomi yawned in her arms and opened her eyes. "No need to ask who the father is, I see." Gina held her tongue and let Naomi work her magic. "She's absolutely breathtaking." Her mother mumbled after a while, face relaxed into a soft smile as she gazed adoringly into blue eyes.

"She usually has that effect on people." Gina smiled. "And you're right, there's no denying who she belongs to." Gina sighed for what felt like the thousandth time in just a few hours and rubbed her eyes.

"Where is Anthony?" She knew the question was bound to come, but it still made her chest tighten.

"I'm not sure. Probably out of the country by now. Last time I saw him was two days ago." She met her mother's eyes, willing the tears back down.

"He ran? What the hell did the two of you get yourself tangled up in now?" Her mother demanded, probably a bit softer then usual because of the baby who was waving her tiny fists around in her arms.

"We robbed the wrong house, had a snitch in our crew and things went to shit." She stated. Her mother just raised an eyebrow and she knew she had to elaborate. "We heard of this guy who was selling drugs…"

"You what? Please tell me you didn't do what I think you did." Her mother interrupted, glaring at her. Gina drew a deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts.

"As I was saying…" She shot a glare at her mother, who glared back. "We heard of this guy who had a lot of money. Supposedly he was an easy mark, only a few guards, no fancy equipment. We planned the thing to perfection, knew every player, knew where the best entrance was… You know, the usual. Thing is, one of the lads turned on us, so instead of an easy mark, we walked into pure chaos."

"Police?" Her mother inquired,

"No, worse then that. They watched us as we went through the house, we didn't know that little fact until I stumbled in to their surveillance room on the way out. We got the safe open and everything looked like it was going off without a hitch, suddenly one of the walls exploded and there were people with guns everywhere. We scattered, I saw one of our guys go down, saw Anthony take out a few of them." She was quiet for a moment, remembering all the blood, the smoke.

"I have a feeling that was just the beginning." Her mother commented, dryly.

"You would be right." Gina sighed. "Most of this mess is my fault. I don't even know why they were there, but suddenly I was in a room with the guy who owned the house. It would have been a Mexican stand off, both of us aiming guns at the other, but suddenly a kid ran into the room. He picked the kid up, can't have been more then 5 years old. I'm not even sure if it was a girl or a boy. Anyways, he used the kid as a shield and fired on me. He got me in the shoulder, he would have killed me if Anthony hadn't burst into the room and shot him in the head." Her mother put Naomi back in her seat and led Gina to a chair.

"What happened then?" She asked quietly, almost like she didn't really want to know.

"We ran." Gina closed her eyes. "We left the poor kid there, covered in blood. My shoulder was pretty bad, but the bullet was a through and through, so it wasn't life threatening. Me and Anthony laid low for a few weeks, he fixed up the wound as best he could, that's also when I found out I was pregnant. We were originally going to go abroad, India was at the top of our list, but this complicated it. Add it to the fact that we knew someone had turned on us and it was impossible. It didn't take too long to figure out who it was though, he wasn't exactly laying low like the rest of us." Gina opened her eyes again, looking at her mother's thoughtful expression, wondering what she was thinking.

"If you know who it was… Why is Anthony running? Why not just take out the snitch and let that be it?"

"The snitch was Johnny White, mum. Remember him?" Gina answered.

"Yeah, he's that little piece of shit that used to hang around when you were kids. Always knew he'd grow up to be a weasel." Her mother nodded. "But that still doesn't explain…" She trailed off. "Unless…"

"We made it out with a fair bit of money and he was the one to take over the drug business when we killed his new boss." Gina concluded for her. "There's no way to get to him, we've tried. Once he figured that out, he skipped the country. He's put a hit out on all of us. Most of the crew has already gone underground, but only after he had a few of them offed. Anthony went after him to try and put a stop to it all. To keep us safe."

"And you came here? Are you insane?" Her mother exclaimed, making Naomi stir slightly. She lowered her voice in an instant. "He knows where to look for you, he'd come straight here."

"No, he won't. He thinks I hate you, that I've severed all ties to you. I let him believe it, I let everyone believe it." She looked at her mother apologetically. "He thinks, along with the rest of the world, that you would probably shoot me on sight." She grinned.

"He would think that, wouldn't he? Stupid git." Her mother chuckled. "Never the less, you should stay out of sight for the next few months. You did make sure no one followed you, right?"

"Just like you taught me, mum. Switched cars about three times, no original number plates, drove halfway to bloody Scotland before turning back… Figured you know someone to take care of the car once I got here." She smiled at her mother.

"Sounds good… I only have one more question." She looked at Gina expectantly. "Why the fuck haven't you given me a hug yet?"

**-CS-**

"Mummy!" A tiny blonde whirlwind threw herself at Gina. "I made a friend!" The 6 year old was bouncing up and down, blue eyes sparkling in the soft sunlight of the living room. "He fell out of a tree and went thump on the ground and I helped him and now he's my friend!" The girl explained animatedly. "His name is Jimmy and he has a race car, well not really, it's a piece of wood with wheels nailed to it, but he says it is a race car and since he's my friend it must be true. Right mum? And he was bleeding from his knee and I put a band aid on it and he was crying, but I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that…" She trailed off, looking guilty.

"It's ok, you're allowed to tell your mummy anything, even when they say it's a secret." Gina grinned, getting down to her level, Naomi perked up at hearing that. "But remember what we talked about? About not talking so loudly in the house because grandma isn't feeling good?" Naomi nodded, looking serious.

"I'm supposed to talk quietly, because grandma is sleeping." She said softly. "I don't understand why we can't just put a band aid on her so she'll be fixed again." Gina sighed at the frown on her face. They had tried explaining why grandma was getting thinner, why she was sleeping so much, but how do you really explain to a 6 year old that grandma was dying?

"Because not everything can be fixed by a band aid, sweetie." Gina answered sadly. Naomi scrunched up her face, trying to make sense of it. "Why don't you tell me more about your new friend?" She asked, trying to distract her. "You said he fell out of a tree?"

"Uh huh." Naomi nodded, smiling again. "It was funny." She giggled, eyes shining with joy. Gina stood back up, grabbing Naomi's hand, leading her to the kitchen. "You should say hi to him, he's outside right now. He promised he'd wait till I finished eating and then he said he'd show me a birds nest." Naomi babbled enthusiastically.

"Did you ask if he wanted to eat with us too?" Naomi shook her head. "Why don't you go and ask him now? And I'll make some sandwiches." She watched Naomi bounce out the back door and sighed. Her life wasn't anywhere near where she would've imagined it to be. Taking care of a very bright, bundle of energy and her ill mother wasn't exactly her dream situation. She watched her daughter skip down to the tree line, disappearing from sight.

"You should start teaching her the things she'll need to know." The voice startled her, but she wasn't surprised. She felt arms snake around her waist and leaned back.

"And you should learn to give a girl a little more warning." She answered.

"I heard about your mum." She clasped her hands to his, intertwining their fingers. "I'm sorry." He sighed, kissing her temple.

"How long are you here for this time?" She asked quietly.

"A week maybe." He answered. She watched as Naomi dragged a scrawny looking boy out in the open, even from this distance she could see the worn clothes, the skinny frame. "Who's that?" The voice behind her rumbled.

"Our daughter made a friend today. His name's Jimmy." She turned in his arms, looking up at his familiar blue eyes. "She'll love to see you though. Last time you were here, she wouldn't shut up about you for months."

"That could be a problem." He answered sadly, she saw the way he drank in the sight of their daughter and felt her heart constrict.

"She's never told anyone about you. She doesn't understand why she can't, but she knows not to do that." She tried to reassure him. "But to me and mum… Well, she wouldn't stop talking about you. She loves you."

"They're still looking for me." He said, jaw clenching.

"I know." She pressed her face to his chest, inhaling briefly before pushing him away. The door opened a second later, Naomi practically pushing Jimmy in through the door.

"…nice, you'll see. She makes the best sandwiches and you said you were hungry…" Her eyes fell on her father, widening. "You're here!" She exclaimed, darting passed the boy, throwing herself on the man in the kitchen.

"I missed you, kiddo." Her dad chuckled, picking her up and whirling her around. The delighted shriek of laughter from Naomi, made Gina smile contentedly. She laughed when Naomi placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek, making his eyebrows fly up in surprise. A small movement from near the door, drew her attention away from the pair in front of her.

"Hello, you must be Jimmy." She said softly at him, watching the way his eyes darted from the door to her and back again. He stiffened at the sound of her voice, shyly looking up at her, nodding. He looked like he hadn't eaten for days, or seen a washcloth in a while. The jeans he was wearing was way too big, a piece of rope was acting as a belt. She shot a look at Anthony, seeing him filing away the boys appearance too. Naomi squirmed in his arms, demanding to be put back down.

"Come on Jimmy, I'll show you where you can wash up." Naomi grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the kitchen towards the downstairs bathroom. Gina followed them with her eyes, smiling softly as she could hear her daughter babble up a storm at the boy.

"I know that look." Anthony commented dryly. "The last time you had that look, we ended up with a cat and 4 kittens, because you thought they looked thin."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She grinned, mind already coming up a thousand ways she could get the boy to open up, maybe eat more too.

"Let me run a check on his family…" He sighed, grinning when she stuck her tongue out at him.

**-C.S-**

The weather matched her mood. The clouds above her were dark, swirling ominously, wind howling as rain seemed to come from every direction at once. She shivered, pulling her coat closer to her body. The coffin was lowered slowly into the ground, a priest spouting nonsense words as it disappeared. Her insides were numb, there were no tears left in her. She looked at the small rag tag group around her. Naomi was holding on to her with one hand, the other one firmly in Jimmy's grasp. The boy was oblivious to the tears running down his face, not making a move to even try to wipe them away. Naomi was like her, stoic, no emotions on her face whatsoever.

A man she had only met once, dropped a rose into the grave, she suspected he had been hopelessly in love with her mother. She tilted her head, studying him. He noticed her looking, nodded his head and turned around, leaving them behind. Gina stood there, frozen to the spot, eyes searching for Anthony. She didn't see him though, hadn't seen him for almost a year. Hadn't spoken to him in more then six months, she knew what it meant, but didn't want to think about it. The thought of him being dead too almost forced a sob out of her, she bit it back though, squeezing Naomi's hand a bit tighter.

"Come on, mum. Let's get out of this weather." Naomi broke her thoughts, she looked down at her gratefully. Naomi was all legs and arms these days, looking much older then 11. Her eyes were still the exact shade her father's had been, making them hard to meet.

"In a minute, sweetie. Why don't you and Jimmy get in the car, I just want to…" She trailed off, but Naomi seemed to understand, squeezing her hand. She watched as the pair of them thanked the priest and started walking towards the exit. Jimmy shot her a sad smile, before putting his arm around Naomi, the two of them had been inseparable since the day Naomi had brought him home.

She drew in a shaky breath, not noticing that the priest slipped away. Her mother had held on a lot longer then anyone expected. Gina wasn't surprised though, her mother had always been stubborn. She chuckled weakly at the thought, remembering her insistence that she could take care of herself right up until the end. The chuckle turned into a quiet sob.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to this without you, mum. Naomi is getting so big and I haven't heard from Anthony in what feels like forever. Naomi hasn't cried yet, but this is killing her. I don't know when she became so withdrawn, but I think it was when she first saw how Jimmy was living. I still remember the day she came home crying, telling me that she'd seen his dad beat the crap out of him. She's been burying herself in trying to master everything I've tried to teach her, Jimmy's been practically living with us the last week or so… I don't know what to do about either of them." She looked up, revelling in the feel of rain on her face, forcing her tears back down.

"I miss you already." She whispered, not sure if she meant her mother or the father of her child.

She walked out of the cemetery, gravel crunching under her feet. Naomi stepped out of the car as she came closer, opening the door for her silently. Gina managed to smile softly at her, seeing the sadness radiate from the girl. Wordlessly, she opened her arms, drawing her into a hug. She felt Naomi sink into her, finally releasing a heartbroken sob.

"I know." She whispered into Naomi's hair. "I know, sweetie. We'll be ok, you'll see." Jimmy came out of the car too, shifting on his feet. Gina dragged him into the hug, letting her own tears finally fall as well, clinging to the kids in her embrace.

This was her family now, she just had to find a way to protect them all.

**-C.S-**

She awoke with a jolt, eyes searching for the reason. A green light blinked silently on her bedside table, making her swear under her breath, hand instantly going to the gun next to it. She got out of bed, pulling on some sweatpants and a t-shirt and was across the hall in a second. She opened the door carefully, tip toeing into the room, clasping a hand over Naomi's mouth to stifle any sounds. Naomi's eyes shot open, widening as she saw the gun in her hand.

"We've got company." Her mother whispered, carefully removing the hand over Naomi's mouth. Naomi sat up in an instant, dragging on her own clothes.

"How long ago?" She whispered back, fixing her hair in a pony tail. The determination in her eyes spoke volumes. Gina took a second just looking at her, hating to have to do this to her the night before her 17th birthday. She'd grown up to be a beautiful young woman, the quiet strength in her seemed to draw people in.

"A minute ago. They should be here any second now." Gina answered. "I want you to get Jimmy and get the hell out of here."

"I'm not leaving you!" Naomi exclaimed a little too loud. "Sorry." She muttered. The sound of the front door creaking open downstairs, made them both freeze. They looked at each other, Gina sighed when she saw the stubborn set of Naomi's jaw.

"Fine." She sighed. "Too late now. Take this and hide in the closet. I'll check out what we're up against." Naomi opened her mouth to argue, but Gina shut her down. "Don't argue with me, I'm still your mother." Naomi grumbled under her breath, but took the gun, quickly checking that it was loaded and with a pointed stare at her mother made her way to the closet. "Don't open the door unless you know it's me, shoot anyone else." She closed the door as Naomi gave her a firm nod.

Gina inched her way down the hallway, ducking into the spare room. The house was decked out with cameras at every angle, silent alarms around the property, all connected to this room. She scanned the footage, watched the people on the screen cut the power and phone lines, glad that this room wasn't connected to the main power grid. She counted four people, two fanning out across the property, two entering the house. One of the screens showed a car at the end of the driveway, people still inside it. She drew out a second gun, automatically making sure it was working properly, before switching the system to live. The two men, or at least what she assumed was men, inside the house had spilt up, one searching the downstairs area, the other making his way up the stairs.

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she saw him make his way towards the first room on the landing, Naomi's room. She offered a small prayer to anyone that was listening, hoping that Naomi would stay calm and not do anything. She slipped silently out of the room when she saw him go in, stalking across the hall. She tried to calm her breathing, get the adrenaline under control.

She burst into the room, taking the man by surprise, pistol whipping him across the back of his head. He went down with a dull thump, making it all a bit anticlimactic. She listened for more sounds, but couldn't hear anything. Quickly stripping the sheets from Naomi's bed, she tied up the intruder, gagging him although it didn't seem like he would wake up anytime soon. Better safe then sorry, had always been her philosophy.

"Get back inside." She hissed when she heard the closet door open behind her, throwing a quick look over her shoulder, meeting her daughter's wide eyes. The crackle of a radio drew her eyes back down to the unconscious man, but she heard the soft thud of the closet door closing again. She could hear the faint hiss of a voice, coming from the earpiece in the man's ear. She bent down, removing it, she debated whether or not to put it in for a moment, in the end deciding it would give her an advantage if she knew what was going on outside too.

"No movement from the grounds, moving on to the garage." One voice said, quickly followed by another. "Done checking my sector, moving on to the tree line now." She had no idea who the first voices belonged to, nothing jogging her memory.

She turned towards the door again, hand on the handle, when a third voice made chills run down her spine. "There's no one downstairs." She'd know that voice anywhere. "How's it looking up there?" The words and the familiar voice made her freeze, trying to come up with some sort of a plan.

"Shit." She muttered, scrambling into a corner. "What the hell is he doing here?" She heard him swear in her ear, not really making sense of the words. Her heart was hammering in her chest, so much louder then before. She crouched down, eyes darting around the room, looking for a way out. A tiny part of her brain tried to tell her to get it together, that she was loosing it, but she ignored it. Her eyes finally fell on the closet, remembering that her daughter was in there. Determination flew through her again, the grip on her gun became a little surer. It was too late though.

The door slammed open, gun firing before she had a chance to even raise her own. She clutched the wound automatically, gun dropping uselessly on the floor, eyes widening in surprise. She sank to her knees, coughing, a metallic taste in her mouth. She looked up at the shooter, watched him sneer at her, a look of triumph on his ugly face as he took off his mask. She felt his hand in her hair, dragging her backwards, dumping her in front of his unconscious associate. She grimaced, pain coursing through her from the movement, slumping to the floor when he let go.

"You always were predictable, Gina." He mocked, pacing the floor in front of her, back to the closet.

"Fuck you." She spat, noticing the dribble of blood from her mouth.

"Shut up, bitch!" He stepped towards her, slapping her across the face. She swayed backwards from the blow, a blow that she knew normally wouldn't even have flinched for. The thought scared her, she cast a quick glance down her body, down to where her hand was still firmly held. She felt weaker the moment she saw the blood pouring out of the wound, staining everything red. She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath, eliciting another round of coughing. She opened her eyes again, willing herself to meet his and spat him in the face. Blood ran down his face, he wiped it angrily away.

"You're a piece of shit." She said calmly, before he had a chance to react. "Always have been, always will be. What are you even doing here? I thought you were the big man and all, someone push you off the throne? You always were a coward, Johnny, trying to hitch a ride on everyone else's coattails through life. Never having the balls to do actually confront people yourself. This must be a first for you, does it make you hard? Make your tiny little excuse for a cock, twitch?" She fixed her face into a sneer, suppressing the pain again. She needed to keep him fixed on her, needed to make him see red. "Made a mistake though…" She drew her lips apart in a semblance of an insolent grin.

"And what mistake would that be?" He cocked his head to the side, contempt and anger on his face. "You're as good as dead, you'll bleed to death even if I don't finish you off right now. The only reason you're still breathing is because you're going to tell me where the money is."

"You forgot something, that's all." She tried to shrug, but her shoulders wouldn't respond right.

"Alright, since you're on your last breaths and all, I'll humour you. What am I supposed to have forgotten about?" His eyes were on her, she had his full attention, the grin on her face became real fro a second.

"You forgot about me." Came a cold voice behind him. Gina almost laughed at the way his eyes bugged out of his head. She saw the warning signs just in time.

"NOW!" She shouted. The shot rung out almost before the word was out of her mouth. Time slowed down, she watched his head practically explode, felt the spray of blood on her face. The silence was overwhelming. She looked at Naomi, saw the shock on her face, the horror. Watched as it dawned on her what she had really done, their eyes connected and Naomi fell to her knees.

"What have I done?" Naomi stared in shock at the body in front of her, tears streaming down her face. Gina had no words for her, wasn't sure how to make this better. Couldn't do anything as she watched her curl herself into a ball, clutching the gun to her forehead. She was shutting down, Gina felt like crying. For the second time that night, she prayed, hoping for a miracle.

"What the hell happened?" Her head shot up, the answer to everything froze in the doorway, watching Jimmy take in the sight in front of him. He couldn't take his eyes away from the body either.

"Jimmy." There was no response from him. "Jimmy!" She tried again, a little louder, still there was no response. "JIMMY!" He didn't even flinch. She closed her eyes for a moment, she could hear her heart slowing down in her chest, beating at a sluggish pace. "JAMES COOK! YOU LOOK AT ME THIS INSTANT!" His head spun to face her. "You have to get her out of here, there's more people out there." She continued, voice much softer.

"I know, I knocked out two of them trying to get to you." He murmured. "These are the people you were scared about. The reason you trained us both." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes, they are." She answered anyways. "There's more of them, they'll come for us soon. I need you to get Naomi out of here." She was begging, they both knew it. He nodded, carefully bending down and scooping Naomi easily into his arms.

"What about you?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"I'll distract them." She answered. "I'll give you the time you're going to need."

"But I don't know where to go." For a moment, she saw the 7 year old boy she first met in front of her. The insecurity her and Naomi had almost eradicated in him.

"London. You need to go to London. Naomi knows where to go once you're there. Take the money in the cookie jar in the kitchen, there's a key taped to the bottom, take that too." She saw him take it all in, frowning. "Go through the woods, don't use the main road. Steal a car, take the train, I don't care. Just get as far away from here as fast as possible."

"Alright." He said haltingly, looking at her. "Come with us. I can carry you."

"Jimmy…" She looked at him sadly. "I can't come with you. I need to stay here and distract them. Tell her I love her." Her eyes flickered to Naomi. "Tell her… tell her I'm sorry."

"Gina." He breathed, tears in his eyes. "You're not going to follow us, are you?"

"I'm dying, Jimmy. This is my final gift to both of you, time to get away." The tears on his face seemed to run faster, but she couldn't be sure, her sight was getting fuzzy. "I always thought of you as my own, and I couldn't be prouder of the man you've become. You're worth something, James Cook." He nodded, determination on his face. "Now get out of here before it's too late."

"I love you Gina. I'll make sure Naomi is safe, I promise." He nodded at her one final time and shifted his hold on Naomi, getting a better grip, before taking off.

Gina sighed, she felt so tired, but she was hell bent on getting her kids the head start they needed. Hopefully they could disappear before anyone knew they were gone. She dragged herself across the hall, legs no longer wanting to support her. Her eyes focussed lazily on the screens in front of her, tracking the lone dot she knew was James Cook on one of them. Movement on one of the others caught her eye, the car was pulling up next to the house, no one got out, obviously the people in it was waiting for some sort of sign.

"I'll give them something to look at." Gina mumbled, eyes darting to the screen with Jimmy and Naomi on it. They were almost to the tree line. She closed her eyes, hand finding the plastic casing that covered a tiny switch, on it's own. She pushed the casing back almost casually. "I hope this works." She breathed and watched Jimmy and Naomi disappear into the trees, before flipping the switch.

The spark would travel through the wires, dividing itself when the one line split into five. Continue through the walls, down the into the ceiling below. Racing along to their final destinations, silently following the path laid out a long time ago. Three of the lines lead to charges set on the carrying beams, destined to make the house collapse. One led to a charge in the garage, to ensure it would be destroyed too. And the last one led to a charge just behind a tank of gas in the basement, making sure that even if the house didn't collapse, it would be engulfed in an inferno of flames.

Gina drew out the key she always kept on a chain around her neck, fitting it into the lock next to the switch. She drew in a breath, noticing that she wasn't coughing anymore, and turned the key.

She never got to exhale before the place exploded.

**-C.S-**

* * *

**There you go, first chapter of Chasing Shadows.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	2. Run me right into the ground

**A/N:** Somehow, I didn't quite expect the reaction I got to this. I actually expected people to sort of hate me for killing people off, or at least swear at me a little... So, I just wanted to say thanks for all the lovely reviews before I got on with the story.

The same disclaimers and stuff still applies.

**Chapter 2: Run me right into the ground.**

The busy street soothed her, cleared her head. Most people would find the busy street confusing, the constant chatter, the sound of the heavy traffic running by, but she loved it. This was were she found silence, a sense of peace, not despite the people, but because of them. No one really saw you when you were in a crowd, but you could see them, all of them. The mother leaning down to hug her child, trying to get him to stop crying over a dropped ice cream. The skater, trying to look effortlessly cool, while tugging at her shirt and not meeting anyone's eyes. A business woman, yelling at someone on her phone. Her eyes slid over all of them, sizing them up, lips curling to a smile when she spotted her mark.

"I've got one." She murmured into her handsfree, pushing off the wall she had been standing against, following the blue coat in front of her. "Female, my age. Blue jacket, can't miss the hair." She laughed at the reply in her ear, couldn't resist the look over her shoulder at her partner, spotted him a bit further down the street. "Yeah, that's the one." She looked back up, watched her mark stop at a coffee shop.

She'd been doing this for far too long by now, but she still couldn't explain how she picked the people she stole from. A gut feeling maybe. This one didn't tick all her boxes, but there was something about her. Casually, she pretended to look at a store front, saw her partner give her an almost invisible nod as he passed her. She kept her head down, waiting for her opening, a distraction.

"Go." The voice in her ear said, making her spin into action in an instant. She plastered an insane smile on her face, skipping down the street. The low chuckle from her ear piece told her that he was watching. She calculated the distance, positioned herself almost without thinking about it and bumped into her mark perfectly.

The first time she picked a pocket, the man she stole from almost caught her. She still wasn't sure how she got away from him, dumb luck would be the obvious answer. Her mother would have told her about divine intervention, but then again, she would also have condemned her for stealing in the first place. The second time, it went better, smoother. The woman had no idea her wallet was missing when they parted, only scoffed about the rudeness of kids these days. The rest of the people she's stolen from, have all sort of bled together over the years, she feels no guilt over the act anymore. No rush of adrenaline like she did the first few times. It was simply a necessity, a way to survive.

The millisecond before her body made contact with her mark, she knew she had made a mistake. Her moves were so ingrained in her muscle memory that before she can even think to abort, her hand had already closed around a wallet. The slight tilt of her mark's head, the narrowing eyes, told her that the move was expected. It threw her, but she still managed to slip the wallet unseen into one of her own pockets.

"I'm so flippin' sorry. I'm late and my boyfriend is waiting for me. I should really learn how to watch where I'm going. My mum always said I was useless. Thommo says I shouldn't say that about myself, but he's my boyfriend and he has to say these things or he won't be surfing and turfing with me anytime soon." Usually, her barrage of sound made people look at her like she had some sort of a mental problem. It's why she does it, to be honest. People underestimate you when they think you should be locked up and looked after by men in white coats. They see what they want to see, or more accurately, what she wanted them to see.

"No worries." The voice is melodious, draws her out of her own head in an instant, almost shattering her act. "Just don't do it again." The way the girl's eyebrow raises just a millimetre, the small quirk of her lips, it all added to the confusion.

"I'll try not to." She grinned, hoping it masked the sudden fear that crept into her very core. There was no explanation why she felt it, no outward sign on the stranger's face that told her that she was in trouble, but the fear was still there.

"Go on then." The girl said with a smile. "You wouldn't want to keep Thommo waiting." The flicker of the girls eyes towards where she knew Thomas was standing, made her want to frown. She kept her ridiculous smile plastered on though, nodding her head furiously.

"Yeah, he's well lush, he is." She sighed dreamily, still trying to project herself as a ditzy blonde, who's had a bit too much sugar. The stranger patted her back, still grinning slightly, before turning on her heel, walking away. The dopey look Panda had plastered on her face, dropped away in an instant. Her eyes followed the stranger, but the blue jacket still managed to disappear without a trace, long before it should have. A hand on her shoulder made her jump.

"Come on." The quiet rumble of Thomas' voice, calmed her in an instant. She shook her head, let him lead her through the throngs of people and into a calmer side street. "What happened?" He asked once they'd ducked into a tiny pub that was practically devoid of other people. He led her to a table in the back, near the rear exit.

"I'm not sure." She answered once she was seated. "But I want to find out." Her hands slid into her pocket, closing around the wallet she had stolen, drawing it haltingly out on the table. Thomas just met her eyes with his own, she always did think they were beautiful, and gave her a toothy smile.

"Alright, but first we get something to drink." His accent is nearly gone now, she found it a bit bittersweet. He loved that he's fitting in more. That he can find the words easier and express himself the way he wanted to, but she missed how she would be the only one really understanding where he was going, what he really meant. He used to be hers, in every sense of the word, he's not anymore. It's ok though, they have both moved on, accepted the inevitable. There are parts of her that will always love him, but they have morphed from a romantic kind of love, to a friendly one. It's better that way and in some ways, it's worse.

The glass that was suddenly put down in front of her, let her know that she'd drifted off in her head again. She blinked, the world shifting back into focus properly, watching as he sat back down.

**-C.S-**

He sat in the middle of what looked like chaos. Wires everywhere, oddly shaped spare parts strewn haphazardly across a table. There was order there though, he knew where every last piece was. His eyes darted from the electronic device in his hand to the laptop perched on top of the couch next to him. Most people would laugh at the way he carefully handled the screwdriver, gently putting together, what was in his eyes, the most beautiful thing he had made yet. The way he saw it, most people were idiots who didn't understand the simple beauty in wires, in putting something together themselves. In knowing that you made something from scratch and that it was nothing quite like this particular object in the whole world. He grinned to himself as the lid was finally on, preparing himself to test it for the first time.

"…it's a fucking trap!" The door slammed open, making him almost drop what he had worked on for days. Grumbling under his breath, he puts the device down next to his computer and got to his feet a bit unsteadily.

"It's not a trap, Thommo. Use your fucking brain for once. She knows who I am, or close enough anyways." He flinched at the tone in her voice, even he could hear it was bad and he usually didn't get these things. "She just wants a meeting."

"How the hell did she know in the first place?" Thomas rumbled, just as they came in to view. He felt himself calm a little, the feeling of anxiety dying down. It was always easier to attempt to read people when they were in plain view, when he could see their faces. Pandora was clawing the pigtails out of her hair, shedding the colourful jacket she had on, basically transforming herself in front of his eyes. He had always admired that about her, the way she could easily slip into the person she had once been, even though she was nothing like her these days.

"I take it your outing had unforeseen consequences?" He asked, hoping Thomas would stop staring at Pandora like he wanted to murder her, or more likely, lock her in a room until she saw things his way. They both ignored him, busy having one of their silent arguments. He knew this would most likely upset anyone else, to see your girlfriend stare down her ex, to know that Thomas would always know her better, but Thomas is not who she curled up to every night. "Guys?"

"Tell her!" Thomas rounded on him, aiming the statement at him. He cocked his head, trying to figure out what exactly it was he was supposed to tell his girlfriend, but came up blank.

"Umm…" His eyes darted between the two of them. "What's going on?" If he was to be any help to either of them, he would need the entire story. Maybe he could make a list, weigh the pros and the cons. He liked lists, it made things easier to get his head around, it was organized. His eyes settled on Pandora.

"The mark I chose, wanted me to pick her pocket. At least that's what I can gather from the note in her wallet. She wants to meet. Thommo thinks it's some sort of set up and normally I would agree, but…" She trailed off, crossing the floor to him, handing him a carefully folded note. "Read for yourself." He meticulously unfolded the note, scanning over the words, eyebrows raising as he read.

"Ahh yes, I see your point." He conceded, the thoughts of list flying out of his head. He looked at Thomas apologetically, watched him sigh as he met his eyes. "I say you meet her, see what she really wants." Thomas looked like he wanted to argue, some things were plain even to him. "But…" He continued, holding up a hand as the other boy opened his mouth. "…I have to insist that we all go."

Just saying the words made him feel anxious, but the smile on Pandora's face made it all worth it. He wasn't sure how Thomas felt about it, he tried reading him, but he had never been good at reading people. Give him a toaster that didn't work and he'd fix it. Show him the insides of a computer and he could replicate it, given that he had the right parts for it of course. Wires were easy, electronics were never complicated, humans on the other hand. Humans confused the hell out of him. He still wasn't sure how he managed to make his relationship with Pandora work, how he had been the one to fix her after Thomas had broken her into pieces. He didn't blame Thomas though, Pandora had broken him too.

"Fine." Thomas finally said, rounding on his heel, stalking into their kitchen. "But I want to check out the place first." He yelled at them. JJ heard him start to rant in French, a sure sign that he thought they were crazy.

"So what have you been doing while we were out?" It took him a minute to figure out that she was talking to him. He smiled at her interest, grabbing her hand excitedly. He knew this was her way of trying to connect with him, to show that she cared about what he was passionate about. He let go of her hand when they reached the couch, bending down to almost reverently cradle the device he had built in his hands, showing it to her.

"You know what I've been working on, right?" She nodded, stroking a hand through his curls. "Well, I figured out how to fix the problem I had with range and how to override the small problem of it catching rather unexpectedly on fire."

**-C.S-**

She walked into the dingy pub right down the street from their apartment, she could feel the nervousness practically radiating from JJ. His hand was sweaty in hers and he was mumbling under his breath. Reciting the periodic table, she assumed, what he usually did when he was anxious and there was no mango juice nearby. She didn't really understand it, the thing with the mango juice, but she did understand his nerves. Her eyes flitted across the nearly empty pub, silently calculating where Thomas would be. She barely met his eyes for a moment when she found him, instead looking for the one they were here to meet. She had a sneaking suspicion that the stranger already knew what Thommo looked like, but it didn't hurt to be somewhat careful.

"You ready?" She breathed into JJ's ear, squeezing his hand, as her eyes came across a lone figure in the back. The instinct to just turn and run, was almost overwhelming, she fought it down. Her eyes never strayed from the stranger, the way she was casually draped over a chair. There was no blue jacket this time, no trace of whimsy, it made Panda uncomfortable.

"I don't think I have much choice." JJ murmured back, following meekly when she stepped towards the other girl.

"There's always a choice Jay." Panda exhaled quietly. "You might not like what the choices are, but you'll always have one." The other girl raised her gaze from her beer bottle, meeting Panda's dead on. She could see the slight twitch of her lips, the raising of an eyebrow as she drew closer. She forced a smile of her own, schooled her features into one of innocent curiosity, flopping down on a chair in front of the other girl.

"I glad you could make it." The voice was as melodious as she remembered. "And I see you brought a friend along." The eyes flickered to JJ, leaving Panda's for a moment. Panda used the moment to steady herself, rid herself of the chills she got when those eyes bored into her own, it was over too soon though. Those eyes were on her again. She fought the urge to squirm.

"Blimey, didn't expect to see you again." She answered, her wide grin going against every instinct in her body. "Found your flippin' wallet, you must have lost it. Freaky thing was that there was a note in it, telling me to meet you here. Did you expect your wallet to be lost?"

"Something like that, Pandora." Her face fell at the words. "And yes, you can drop the act."

"Fine." She sighed, feeling JJ tense next to her. "Who are you anyways? And what do you want from me?"

"I guess I wasn't clear in my note." The other sighed, leaning back against her chair, rubbing her face. "I'm sorry about all the cloak and dagger shit. Thought it would be fun, I guess." She looked back up at Panda, undoubtedly seeing the puzzled look on her face. "Right, an explanation. Maybe you'd like to get Thomas?" She grinned, her whole face transforming. It fascinated Panda, the switch she saw in the other girl, how her entire being seemed to relax. It put her at ease too.

"Umm… Sure." She turned and caught Thommo's eyes, beckoning him over. He frowned, of course, grudgingly obliging. She waited for him to sit down, before turning back to the other girl. "Go on then."

"I come from a line of thieves, there is no other way of putting it." The girl started. "My mum was one, my dad. I know my grandmother was one too, as were her parents before her. According to some documents I found, my great-grandfather was Victor Lustig, I guess you can say it runs in my blood." She stopped, taking a sip of her beer, looking at them.

"Why does that name sound so familiar?" Panda directed her question at JJ.

"Victor Lustig, con man extraordinaire. He was said to be a charming man, everyone seemed to trust him." JJ began, his eyes getting that far away look he usually got before one of his lectures, Panda saw Thomas nudge him. "Ahh, sorry, I tend to ramble." He directed a weak chuckle at the other girl, who grinned back at him, encouraging him to go on. "He's the man who sold the Eiffel Tower… Twice." He smiled at them all, obviously pleased that he could be helpful in some way. "Oh, and he also conned Al Capone." He threw in, almost as an afterthought.

"Fascinating." Thomas remarked dryly. "But what the fuck has that got to do with Panda?"

"Her dad was in my dad's crew." The answer came instantaneously, like she'd been expecting it.

"Figures." Panda mumbled, Thomas looked at her questioningly. "My mum always said I was the devils spawn." The grin on her face was forced again.

"Anyways." The other girl continued. "We only meant to track you down, talk to you maybe. This really wasn't my idea, but as I said… I thought it would be fun." She raised a hand at the bar, waving someone over. Panda turned and saw the grizzly guy behind the counter, nudge the boy in front of him. He turned and she swore she could see the boyish grin beam at them from all the way where he was sitting. "I guess we should introduce ourselves, the fuckhead coming this way is Cook and my name is Naomi."

"This grumpy guy is Thommo." Pandora answered. "This is JJ, and I guess you already know who I am… People call me Panda though, the only one calling me Pandora these days, is JJ." she gave him a fond smile, squeezing his hand again. Something was bugging her though, other then not quite knowing what this Naomi person wanted from her. "How did you know who I was? And how did you know I'd pick you as a mark?"

"We have our ways." The guy called Cook answered behind her, still grinning widely. He slid past them, putting a fresh bottle of beer in front of Naomi. She slapped his arm, scowling playfully at him. "That's abuse, that is." He said, grimacing, rubbing the spot she'd hit.

"He's an ass, don't listen to him." Naomi grinned. "To answer your question in one word, Keith." She nodded towards the barman, the confusion on their faces must have been plain to see, because she continued her explanation. "He sort of adopted Cook as a nephew when we first came to the city. When we found you and followed you to this pub, we knew he'd help us. And one night you sort of talked about how you chose your marks, about how you always seemed to go for people in bright coats and vibrant hair. Cook came up with this harebrained scheme. One appointment at the hairdresser, a look around for the right clothes and here we are."

"It worked, didn't it?" Cook interjected.

"Yes." Thomas answered, impatiently. "But what is the meaning of this meeting? To tell Panda about her father? To talk endlessly about your family lines? What?"

"No, it wasn't so we could tell her about her father. We assumed she'd already know about that, actually." Naomi directed the answer at Thomas, before exchanging a glance with Cook. She drew a deep breath. "I have a proposition for her. For all of you."

**-C.S-**

"You sure about this?" He asked her, knowing the answer, but feeling an overwhelming need to make sure. "It's not to late to call this off, I can say that the equipment is faulty, or…" She raised a hand to his lips cutting him off.

"We've broken in to about 4 houses in the last two weeks, preparing for this one." She cupped his face with her hands. "We're not turning back now, JJ." The touch of her hands distracted him. "Just relax, it'll be alright. Naomi and Cook could do this in their sleep."

"If that's true, then why do they need us?" He remarked.

"Because we needed more people." Cook answered, sauntering up to them, grinning at Panda in a way that made him clench his fist. He might be stupid about certain things, but not that look. "Besides, if you back out… Who'd take care of the alarms?" He grinned, ruffling his hair. JJ couldn't help grinning back, he really did like Cook. Well, when he didn't hit on Pandora or antagonized Thomas too much. He had a feeling that Cook got himself into an unnecessary amount of trouble because of the way he behaved.

"All set?" Naomi jumped out of the van easily. "Need anything? Final look at the blueprints maybe?"

"We're good, right Jay?" She looked at him, he nodded.

"Yes, I'm 96,8% certain that the device I came up with, will work. Hopefully, without catching on fire like the first few times I tried it." He chuckled weakly when the others laughed, he hadn't really meant that as a joke. "Right. I'll go get situated in the van." He looked at Pandora again. "Good luck, be safe." He kissed the side of her head, squeezed her hand a final time.

He didn't mind that he was on what Cook had jokingly referred to as 'car duty', probably because Naomi had sat him down and told him how important he really was to the success of the plan. He was the one that was going to guide them through the mazelike interior of the building, curtsey of the nifty little program he had designed on his computer for the occasion. He was the one that had constructed the device that overrode the alarm system, provided Cook had gotten the make and model right. He was also the one who would pull the car up to the gates, jump out, with the engine still running, and get the van doors open as the others came back out. He watched as Thomas joined them, the four of them approaching the wall, all of them scaling it with ease. He hastily put his earpiece in.

"…Cook. You and Panda go through the left entrance, while me and Thommo go through the front. Stick to the plan and we'll be ok." The authority in Naomi's voice was plain to hear. JJ, followed the movement on his screen, looking at the tiny little dots moving. He'd fitted each of their watches with a transmitter, making it possible to track their journeys through the building. "JJ how's it looking on your end?"

"Umm, I've tapped into the security feed, I'm looping the images they're getting as we speak." His fingers flew across the keyboard, typing the commands as he went along. "I count three, no four guards on the ground level, neither of them is anywhere near the entrances."

"Alright, let's do this. Pushing the button on the device now, let me know if it works Jay." Naomi sounded calm, concentrated.

"Will do." He watched the screens intently, watching for a sign that things were going wrong. The door on his screen opened, showing two darkly dressed figures enter. He held his breath, eyes darting to the other screen, looking for a sign that they'd tripped the silent alarm in the building. He gave it exactly ten seconds, before determining that it was a success. "You're clear, Naomi. Cook, Thomas, you're up." It took another 30 seconds for him to be satisfied that everything was still alright. "Good to go, guys."

"Steer us around the guards if you can, we don't need this turning ugly." Cook's voice sounded so different, JJ almost didn't recognize it. The sense of boyishness and mischief was all but gone, or at least that was what it sounded like to JJ.

"Cook, you have a guard in the room two doors down and to the left." He studied the screens again. "Naomi, you're clear all the way to the staircase, looks like the guards in your sector just got done with their sweep. You should probably just go straight up. Remember the guard station at the top of the stairs." The earpiece crackled as they both acknowledged JJ's message.

The next twenty minutes, JJ followed their progression through the building, warned them when the guards came a little too close, watched as they got what they came for and started making their way back out together. Movement, drew his attention, he sat up straight, peeing intently at it for a second, calculating the trajectory of the guard.

"Guys, you've got incoming on the left. I'm not sure if he's suspecting something, but he's moving fast." JJ could feel his heart rate increase, his palms starting to sweat. "Fuck, he's not alone. Three others are right behind him." His eyes were glued to the screen, he wondered why his friends weren't moving, watched them turn towards each other, obviously debating what to do. "You need to move if you want to avoid them. Now." He urged.

"JJ." Naomi's voice was low, strained. "Start the car, get to the gate and get it open." He hesitated a second, watched the feed showing his friends spread out in the corridor, organizing a counterattack he realized. Swearing under his breath, something he very rarely did, he scrambled to the front of the van. The engine sounded too loud when it started, he cast a glance over his shoulder trying to see the monitor, vowing to bring a laptop to the next job. If there ever was a next job. He realized that if it was a next time, he should probably also bring some mango juice.

The van skidded to a halt in front of the gate, he was out of the door before he had a chance to think it over. The gate loomed over him, he swallowed, it took him a moment to get over just how big it seemed. Shaking his head, he made it to the side of it, quickly opening a panel in the wall. The wires he needed to cut leapt out at him immediately. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, but all of his focus was on cutting, stripping and splicing the necessary wires. The gate started to slide open the second the last two touched, he doubted it had taken him more then 30 seconds from the moment he had opened the panel. He hurried back into the van, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Gate is open, the van running and just outside." He managed to croak out.

"About time! Get to the front entrance!" Cook yelled in his ear. JJ didn't bother questioning the deviation to the plan, figured there would be a good reason for it.

"On it." He confirmed, throwing the can into gear, speeding down the gravel road, towards the entrance.

He was aware that the perception of time moved differently when the human body was under stress, which would explain how he was suddenly driving at a breakneck speed towards the warehouse district. He tried desperately to block out the moan of agony, the soothing words that followed, every time the van hit a bump.

"Slow down Jay, we're not being followed." He hazarded a quick glance at Naomi, sitting in the seat next to him, even though he had always believed that you should always watch the road while you were driving. She looked tired, beaten up. He took his foot off the gas pedal, feeling the van slowing down.

"How's he doing?" He asked quietly, obviously not quietly enough to not be heard in the back.

"He'll live." Cook stated firmly. "He'll have a cool scar though, almost wish it was me. You can't imagine the amount of pussy you get if you have a few scars." He heard the telltale sound of a slap. "Hey! Watch the bump on the head." Cook whined.

"Shut up about scars, fucktard. Thommo needs a bleeding hospital."

"Chillax, Pandapops. We've got it covered. Called in some help." Cook answered. "She'll be there when we get to the warehouse."

**-C.S-**

Panda didn't realise that anyone else had entered the room, her eyes stuck on Thommo. She hadn't moved a muscle since they brought him in here and laid him on the bed. Her mind was still replaying the events, the spatter of blood flying towards the wall. The strangled yelp from Thommo as the bullet hit, she shuddered. A hand softly grasped her shoulder.

"Panda." Naomi's voice drifted to her. "You need to move so she can look at him properly."

"But I'm keeping pressure in the wound like you told me to." She mumbled back, the hand on her shoulder squeezed briefly at her words.

"And you did a great job, but you can let go now." The voice was soft, much softer then anything she'd ever heard from Naomi. She blinked, looking up at her.

"Promise he's going to be ok?" She closed her eyes, holding her breath as she waited for the answer.

"I promise I'll do whatever I can for him." A strangely familiar new voice answered. Panda's eyes flew open again, looking for the new arrival. As their eyes connected, she saw the recognition and shock in the other's face.

"Effy?" She squeaked out. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Panda?" Effy replied, seemingly just as shocked. It made Panda laugh hysterically, not used to being able to read Effy that easily.

"I… umm… You guys know each other?" She heard Naomi ask, confusedly.

"Yeah, we do. I'm sure Panda will tell you all about it." Panda's laughter died down at the seriousness in Effy's tone. She glanced back up at her, giving her a feeble smile and painstakingly removed her hand from Thomas's wound. She let Naomi lead her away, while she rubbed absentmindedly at the blood on her hands. All she managed with that was to smear spread it around, she grimaced.

"Come on Panda, why don't you wash your hands and tell me about how you know Effy?" She saw Naomi wave away Cook out of the corner of her eye, but all her focus was really on her hands. On the blood staining her fingers. She let Naomi guide her towards a sink, watched the clear water turn pink when she stuck her hands underneath it, fascinated by the swirling water as it disappeared down the drain. She was vaguely aware that she was supposed to tell Naomi something, she frowned.

"Effy? How'd you know her?" She asked quietly, her mind finally processing the words Naomi had said to her.

"Her brother owns a club downtown, she runs it. Me and Cook got a tip that she sold certain… shall we say prohibited? Goods." Panda moved her focus to Naomi's face, saw the small curve of her lips, the bruise forming on her jaw. She cleared her throat and frowned a little when she saw Panda looking at her. "Anyways, we were in the marked for some things and paid her a visit. To make a long story short, she was attacked by a man with a knife, Cook and I beat the bastard down and I got me a souvenir." She rolled up her sleeve a little, showing off a scar on her arm. "She stitched me back together. We've been friends ever since."

"She did say she wanted to go to medical school to become a doctor once, I suppose she really did go." Panda murmured, registering the puzzled look on Naomi's face. "We were friends when we were kids. She helped me run away from my mum. See, my mum was a bit of a nutcase. Extremely religious, didn't want me to so much as look at a boy. She went completely crazy whenever I did. She used to whip me with a belt, claiming I needed to repent for my sins." Panda felt her lips twist into something resembling a smile, she really didn't know why she was telling Naomi all these things. Maybe it was a way of blocking the events that had led them here. "Effy gave me and Thommo enough money to get on a bus to London and here we are."

"You knew Thomas from before too?" Naomi urged, Panda recognized that it was a way to get her mind off of what was happening just a door away.

"Yeah, we were actually dating once, but we came to the conclusion that we worked better as friends. JJ came along a few months after we got here, he was sweet and kind and I fell in love with him. There were some tension at first, of course, but eventually we all got along." She looked up suddenly, eyes scanning the interior of the place for the first time. "Where's JJ?" She asked, urgently. Naomi pointed at the far corner of the massive warehouse.

"We put him in a cot over there. He was exhausted and overwhelmed. Cook ran out and got him some juice or something, but he was out cold before he got back. I think the excitement was too much for him." Naomi answered calmly. "Would you like to go lie down too? I'll wake you if you fall asleep and there's news."

Panda got up, not answering the question, making her way over to JJ. She felt her steps becoming more and more heavy as she got closer. She looked down at him when she reached him. He'd curled himself up, leaving room enough for her to get in too. She got in next to him, put her arms around him and closed her eyes. The feeling of her arms around him was familiar, comforting, she felt like she could finally breathe again. The last thing she was aware of was Naomi whispering to her.

"If you need anything, just let me know." The words echoed around in her head as she fell asleep.

**-C.S-**

* * *

**Thank you to Es, for putting JJ in my head...**

**And yes, I realize I didn't tell you guys much about what Naomi and Cook has been up to, but it's coming. **


	3. Don't get in over your head

**A/N: **I just wanted to say something about the whole POV thing. Some of you don't like that I don't make it more clear who you are reading about, others love it. I can't please you all and I don't intend to try, so I'll be continuing doing what I've done up until now.

Thank you all for your lovely reviews :D

**Chapter 3: Don't get in over your head.**

The rain was coming down heavily against her window. The radio was on in the background, mostly because she couldn't stand the silence. She sighed, sipping her wine. A pleasant buzz was rushing through her veins, making her cast half a glance at the bottle, it was nearly empty. She swirled the liquid still in her glass around, watching the colours change as the light hit it a certain way. She drained the rest of it in one gulp, filling the glass back up with the last of the wine from the bottle. The rambling newscaster that had just started his broadcast, caught her attention.

"…string of burglaries in London, culminated last night as a small, privately owned, museum was robbed. The museum has not released a list of what was taken, but sources claim that the items taken are valued somewhere around £250.000. Police have no suspects, but say they have a lead and are checking out hospitals in the London area. More on this later in the broadcast."

"Pointless story. Tells us what they stole for fucks sake." She grumbled at the radio, switching it to another station. A random song came on, her head in a different place already. She swirled the content of her glass around again, wishing she smoked or something, anything to keep her hands busy. She fiddled absentmindedly with the stem of her glass. She was nervous, she suddenly realised. A small smile played on her lips at the thought. It was only for a moment before it slid right off again and she frowned, staring unfocusedly at the wall.

"This is stupid." She sighed, leaning back on the couch. A sudden clap of thunder, made her look up. The blackness outside, the raindrops running down her window, it all added to her nerves. She drank the last of the wine in one gulp and got up. She walked to the window and looked out over Bristol, watching the lights in the surrounding houses. Her hand came up, idly tracing the descent of a raindrop. She focussed on the street, watching the people hurry around beneath her, wondering where they were going.

She had no idea how long she had stood there watching the other people when she heard the key in the door. The feeling of nervousness seemed to ease a little in her, giving way to anger and possibly frustration. The door opened, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and turned around.

"Where the fuck have you been?" She growled, stalking towards the front door. "You were supposed to fucking call me! Not just disappear for a fucking week!"

"Oh for fucks sake…" The other answered, back still towards her. "I said I had a job, I said I might not be able to call. What more do you want from me?"

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe a text, an email, a fucking smoke signal?" Her voice was laced with irony. "You know, something to let me know that my baby sister isn't dead in a ditch somewhere." She crossed her arms, fixing a glare on her face. Relief surged through her though, completely contradicting the look on her face.

"You're 10 minutes older then me, Katie." Emily answered tiredly. "And if you don't mind, can we talk about it tomorrow? I haven't slept properly for ages." She turned around and Katie's glare slid right off. Emily looked even worse then she sounded, the bags under her eyes, the dripping wet hair. Katie sighed, dragging her into a hug.

"You'll always be my baby sister, Emsy. 10 minutes or not." She stepped away a little, grinning slightly at Emily's tired smile and little huff. "But if you ever do anything like this again, I will fucking murder you in your sleep. Oh, and you look like shit, by the way." She added pointedly.

"Be nice or I won't tell you about the next job." Emily grinned at her, a sparkle in her eyes. Katie followed her up the stairs. "And trust me Katie, you're going to love it."

"The last time you said that, I was stuck in villa somewhere on the French Riviera, miles from the nearest town, while you were doing who knows what with that woman…" She trailed off, a small frown of disgust on her face.

"I thought the house would be a bit closer to town. They told me it was." Emily shrugged. "But this time you don't have to worry, as soon as I wrap up the job I'm on…" She paused, probably for dramatic effect or something. "…we're going to London!"

Katie didn't know how to react to the news. She'd been waiting for some sort of proof that Emily was alive, wondering what she was doing, who she was with and she just walked in the door, announcing that they were going to London. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Well?" Emily asked after a while, Katie's jaws snapped shut, mind still racing. "The Katie Fucking Fitch, speechless. That's a first." Emily chuckled.

"I'm speechless because I don't know what to say. You know how much I hate what you do for a living." Emily looked like she was going to say something, but Katie beat her to it. "Let me finish… You dig through people's lives, selling off information to the highest bidder. Do you even care what those people do with the information? Is there a list somewhere of the people that are dead because of you, because of us? I know I was the one that got us in to this, I know I help you from time to time, but… I don't like it anymore."

"You're right." Emily stated, an ugly sneer spreading across her face. "But you have no idea what I've done to get here, to get us here. We lived in a fucking hovel for years, barely having a roof over our head, you were the one that said we should do something about it. You were the one that tried fucking your way upwards in life, shagging any bloke with a credit card." The sound of a slap rang through the apartment, it even surprised Katie, it was too loud.

"Fuck you." She muttered, watching the red hand mark slowly appearing on Emily's face.

"Did I hit a nerve, Katiekins?" Emily taunted. "Didn't think you had any left." She sneered again. "Piss off then, get the fuck out of here on your own. Buy your own fucking shoes, your own fucking wine, rent your own fucking place and get the fuck away from big bad Emily." Emily turned and stomped into the bathroom. "And for fucks sake, learn to clean up after yourself, you fucking slob!" A still damp towel came flying out the door, hitting Katie in the face.

Katie let out a frustrated noise and stomped into her room, making sure to slam the door after her.

**-C.S-**

Emily paced the hallway in the apartment building, waiting for Katie. The elevator made a soft ding, announcing an arrival, she hurriedly turned around, watching the opening doors intently. For some reason the elevator was empty, she frowned slightly, and continued her pacing. It had been 10 days since she last saw Katie and despite herself, she found that she missed her sister in all her annoying glory. She wanted to tell her about the trouble she had finding her supposed new job, he had proved to be elusive to say the least. And that was despite that she had managed to rent the apartment across from his. She sighed loudly, shaking her head, trying to stave off the jittery feeling in her gut.

"That bad?" Katie's voice drawled behind her, she whipped around coming face to face with her twin.

"You could say that." She answered tiredly.

"Well, I'm here now. We'll figure it out." Her sister smiled tentatively at her.

"Let's get inside, I'm only out here so I could pace really. The apartment is tiny, but it came fully furnished." Emily led Katie into the small apartment. "As far as I can tell, this is one of the smaller apartments in the building. I've been inside a few of them, you know, trying to build my cover and all."

"Let me guess, bubbly, happy red head, borrowing sugar and stuff from the entire hall?" Katie quirked an eyebrow at her, smirking at her own description. Emily was suddenly struck with how well her twin really knew her, it had been exactly what she had done.

"Yeah well, there aren't very many people who don't fall for it." Emily shrugged, watching Katie drop her bag on the floor next to the couch. "Turn on the charm, smile all prettily and people basically fall all over themselves trying to help. Makes them easier to manipulate." She grinned back at Katie.

"So… Why did you want me here? I thought you told me to go to hell the last time we spoke." Katie enquired, Emily smiled at her, fighting down the flash of annoyance. She hoped it didn't show on her face.

"I need some help. I can't get a handle on the guy I'm following, or am trying to follow. He disappears on me all the time. It's like he's a bloody ghost." She answered.

"Cut the crap, Emily. Just tell me what you want from me." Katie folded her arms over her chest, looking indignant.

"Nothing to bad, I just want you to… use your charms to get closer to him." The words were barely out of her mouth before Katie exploded.

"WHAT?" She roared.

"It's not like I can do it." Emily reasoned.

"But I can just throw away all my principles and randomly jump some stranger?"

"I'm not asking you to sleep with the guy, just flirt with him a little. I just need access to his phone for about a minute." Emily answered calmly, not caring about the flaring of Katie's nostrils, the angry red tint working it's way up her face.

"And just how am I meant to do that if you can't even follow the guy?" Katie sneered back, a mocking glare on her face.

"I'm not going to follow him, you are." Emily stated. "And not so much follow him really, you're just gonna wait for him to show up at this club downtown."

"Yeah, cause I'll have so much more luck then you. Piss off Emily." Katie huffed, turning away from her.

"You will." Emily said gently, touching her arm, pulling her around to face her again. "Trust me Katie. He'll be all over you."

"It's bloody insane!" Katie exclaimed, dragging her arm out of Emily's grip. "I'm not doing it, I don't even know if the guy is dangerous."

"He's not dangerous." He really wasn't, not that Emily was aware of. A bit reckless, according to the file she had on him, but not really dangerous. Unless he was provoked, of course, but who wasn't dangerous in those circumstances?

"What do you want to know about him? Who hired you?" Katie asked, Emily could see the speculative gleam in her eyes and knew she almost had her. "And more importantly, what's in it for me?"

"I was told to figure out who he talks to, what he does, where he goes… You know the usual." She said dismissively. "I got an email, someone had heard about me and needed a fresh face in London and here I am. As for what's in it for you… Well, do you like having a roof over your head? A closet filled with clothes?" Katie nodded slightly at that, it was so subtle that Emily was sure anyone who didn't know her would see the gesture. "Plus, I'll split the commission with you." She added, hoping it would seal the deal. Katie seemed to think it over, but Emily already knew what the answer would be.

"Fine, I'll do it." She conceded after a minute, she held up a hand before Emily could speak though. "But! First sign of trouble and you get to play Veronica Mars all on your own. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Emily simply answered, hiding her smirk. Katie was sometimes way too easy to manipulate, not that Emily particularly minded.

"So… Who is this mystery man then?" Katie asked after a while. "And more importantly, do you have a picture or something?"

"His name is Cook. He goes by a number of different aliases, but he always introduces himself by that name." She leaned back towards the kitchen counter, grabbing the file she'd printed out. "And he looks like this…"

**-C.S-**

Katie self-consciously tugged on the hemline of her dress, adjusting the top part next. There were times in her life she had questioned her own sanity, like losing her virginity at 13 to the dweeb next door. The time she dumped all the alcohol in the house down the drain, trying to keep her mother from drinking herself to death and then letting Emily take the blame for it. This was one of those moments were she knew that she was about to do something stupid, but still pushed ahead. She chewed her lip, wishing she could at least fake the whole 'I don't give a fuck' vibe, Emily seemed to have nailed years ago. The problem was though, she did give a fuck, she usually buried it under a bitchy façade, but she cared. Sometimes, she even cared a little too much.

The cab pulled up next to a club, she'd been there every night for the last week or so, but still there had been no sign of Cook. She was beginning to wonder if Emily had her facts mixed up, the only person she had made any sort of connection with was the bartender and as nice as she was, she wasn't the one she was after. The bouncer let her in without question, just nodded his head when she sauntered up to him. The grumble of the line as she slid past him with a smile, almost made her laugh, made her feel like she mattered.

The bar was relatively deserted when she reached it, the other people in there more interested in being on the dance floor, or looking for a place to sit. She turned, surveying the place, looking for any sign of who she was here to find. After concluding that he wasn't there, yet again, she relaxed her shoulders and sat down on one of the barstools. Her eyes were trained on the door, hoping she wouldn't have to sit there all night again.

"You want the usual?" Came a welcome voice behind her. She smiled briefly to herself, feeling the rush of warmth through her body. She knew she was attracted to the girl behind the bar, but couldn't let herself react. She toned her smile down, made it more friendly then flirty and turned to face her.

"Do you ever have nights off, Effy?" She asked, grinning slightly wider when she saw that there was already a glass in front of her.

"Someone have to keep all these fuckers from ruining the place." Effy answered with a shrug, her eyes drifting to the entrance. "And things just got a bit worse." It was said with a growing grin, making Katie frown and turn in her seat. Her heartbeat immediately picked up when she saw who was making their way over to them.

"Why would you say that?" She asked, watching the reason why she was there in the first place, coming closer by the second.

"Oh, I just know them. Never boring when they're around." Katie saw the affectionate smile on Effy's lips, wishing it was directed at her. The words suddenly registered in her head, she frowned slightly, her eyes finding Cook again. A flash of blonde hair right behind him, caught her eyes and she watched as a girl came into view. She very nearly groaned, this could complicate everything.

"Who are they?" She turned to look at Effy again, knowing that the pair was coming straight for them and there was no need to keep track of them.

"You'll find out soon enough." Effy answered with an enigmatic smile.

"Oi, Eff! Give us a beer." A loud voice boomed practically in her ear, she flinched slightly at the sound, but turned to look at the guy next to her. She was met by a cheeky grin and twinkling eyes. "And introduce us to your friend." She almost cringed at the way his eyes slid over her, feeling like he was really touching her. The sensation made her almost just turn away and get out of the club all together, instead she surreptitiously got her phone out of her purse, texting Emily that he was there.

"Katie, this is Cook. Cook, Katie." Effy an amused smile on her face, Katie really did like that smile. She turned towards him, trying to look mildly interested at least.

"Hi." Her eyes slid past him, latching on to the blonde next to him, wondering who she was to him. Emily had never mentioned this little hindrance. She narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to get a read on the other girl. The quiet confidence radiating from her was slightly unnerving. "And who are you?"

"Naomi." The girl answered, not even looking up from her beer.

"Don't mind these two, they sort of grow on you after a while." Effy supplied, grinning at them. "Now, who's up for some tequila?"

"You know me, babe. I'm always up." Cook leered, his eyes drifting over Katie again. She suppressed a shudder, smiling stupidly back at him instead.

**-C.S-**

Emily stood outside the apartment building, cigarette dangling from her lips, leaning casually against the wall. The plan had originally been that she'd join Katie at the club, but the more and more inebriated texts Katie had kept sending her, changed her mind. There would be no need to go anywhere, they would be coming to her any minute now. A cab drew up next to the front door as if on cue, Katie and Cook practically pouring out from it, giggling like kids as they clutched each other to keep from falling over. She grinned at them, though they were both oblivious to her, taking another drag of her cigarette. Movement behind them drew her eyes.

She was suddenly extremely glad she'd moved her cigarette from her lips, her mouth dropping open as a blonde gracefully slid out of the cab. Her eyes travelled up long legs, gracing a belt buckle, stayed at the gap between the pants and shirt for a moment, watching the muscles work as she turned and bent down to pay the cabbie. She licked her lips, eyes trained on the others' ass. Gliding further up as she turned back again, lingering a touch too long at her breasts, before continuing upwards to meet a pair of the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Her world seemed to narrow, to shift so it would only include the one in front of her.

"… 's my sister Emily. EMILY! This is Cook!" Katie's words broke her out of the intense staring competition she inadvertently had found herself in. She blinked, looking at the pair of them.

"Bloody hell! Twins!" Cook roared happily, throwing an arm around her too. He smelled strongly of tequila and sweat, making her almost cringe. Katie laughed, slapping his side.

"I wouldn't be so happy if I were you Cook, she's so gay that parades have been thrown in her honour." Katie blabbed happily.

"Yes, well…" Emily tried to interject, Cook let out a roar of laughter though, drowning her out.

"Hear that Naomi? Parades and shit!" He stared glassy eyed at the blonde, grinning like an idiot. Emily could feel the blonde's eyes on her.

"Yeah, I heard you Cook. I think the entire neighbourhood heard you." The voice was pleasant, calm. "Now let go of the lovely twins before they team up and kick your ass."

"Katie would never! We're mates, aren't we Katiekins?" He loosened the hold around Emily's shoulders regardless, obviously not sure about her. Emily shot Naomi another look, letting linger when she saw her attention was focused on Cook and Katie. Licking her lips again, taking in the leather jacket and the confident stance. She felt her eyebrow raise, a smirk on her face, as she imagined just what she wanted to do with this Naomi person. She wondered idly if Naomi had tattoos, she seemed like someone who might have a few strategically placed, hidden somewhere. God, she really wanted to confirm that theory.

"Alright ladies, you're all cordially invited to Casa Cook." She snapped out of the very vivid thoughts of the ways she wanted to explore every inch of Naomi's body, preferably with her tongue, and looked at Cook instead. She had no idea when Cook and Katie had moved away from her, or what they all had been talking about. She looked down at her forgotten cigarette, noticing that there still were a few drags left.

"Why don't you guys go ahead? I'll be right up as soon as I finish this." She smiled at them all politely, holding up the cigarette. Katie smirked knowingly at her, she could easily read her thoughts as her gaze flickered to Naomi for a fraction of a second.

"All right. I live on the fourth floor, last door on the right." Cook grinned happily at her.

"Really?" She feigned surprise. "I live across the hall from you." Cook's eyes widened comically and she fought the urge to laugh.

"See? I told you Katie looked familiar." He told Naomi. "I must have seen Emily at one point or another."

"I'm sure you have, she's not exactly easy to miss." Naomi countered. Emily could have sworn she heard a flirty undertone in the reply, her suspicions confirmed when Naomi continued. "I know I wouldn't have missed her." Her new tone of voice sent ripples down Emily's body. "Don't be too long, I'd hate to be left with only these two drunks for company." With those parting words and a mischievous wink, Naomi guided Katie and Cook into the building.

"Damn…" Emily breathed as soon as the door closed. "I really need to get laid." She looked down at the cigarette again, tossing it aside before running her hands through her hair.

She was on her way up the stairs when the thought hit her, it was perfect really, she couldn't really believe that it hadn't struck her before. Cook and Naomi seemed close, best friends or something, all she had to do was get close to Naomi and she would get close to Cook. And she really didn't mind the thought of getting close to Naomi, not at all. A delighted grin crept up her face.

**-C.S-**

She flopped back against the sheets with a gasp, her whole body tingling. She felt light headed, like she was floating. Grinning widely, she turned towards the other person in the bed. She let her eyes drift across the exposed skin, the rumpled hair, the way her chest was still heaving, the light sheen of sweat clearly visible in the soft light. She lifted her hand, gently tracing the outline of muscles that were still quivering in her arm. It was like she was unable to keep her hands to herself, she had to touch, feel the smooth skin under her fingertips.

"That was incredible." She murmured, watching a smirk spread across the other's face. She smiled back softly, drawing random patterns on warm skin. Her own breathing was slowing down, her body cooling, she snuggled into the other's warmth, dropping light kisses on whatever part of her she could reach. She could taste the salt on her skin, feel ripples of movement under her lips. A hand came up, stroking the hair from her face, she looked up meeting a pair of blue eyes.

"You're so fucking gorgeous." The whispered words were soft, so very soft, it made her sigh. She happily let herself be pushed onto her back again, looking up at the naked goddess above her as she straddled her lap. Her hands automatically came to rest on the other's hips, caressingly gliding in aimless patterns.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She answered, causing the other to laugh openly. The sound sent shivers down her spine. Her hands drifted upwards, ghosting across a tattoo she couldn't make out, tracing the outline regardless. She watched in fascination as goose bumps formed, heard the soft moan when her fingertips graced the underside of a breast. "What does it say?" She asked, still tracing the ink on her ribcage.

"It's a family motto of sorts." The answer offered now more explanations, but thoughts of asking her more, fled when she felt the slight undulations of the hips above her. The subtle movement made her hunger for the other girl flair up again, she licked her suddenly dry lips, feeling the renewed throbbing between her leg, the sudden gush of new wetness. She surged up, catching the other's lips, moaning into the kiss. Hands suddenly on breasts, nipples scraping across her palms. Felt the move being mirrored on her own body, it was driving her crazy.

She could smell her own arousal mixing with the others. She growled, nipping at a bottom lip, wanting to make sure she wouldn't be forgotten any time soon. The need to be closer, to be inside the other, was flooding her senses. She trailed kisses down a chin, reaching a perfectly arched neck, tasting the renewed sweat on skin.

"I want you so badly." She whispered into an ear, biting lightly at an earlobe. "I want to fuck you senseless. Want you screaming out my name when you come." The muscles under her hand twitched as it made it's way between them, she felt hips buck at her words, looking for more contact. "Do you want that?"

"Yes!" The answer was breathy, instant, on the verge of desperate despite the fact that she hadn't touched her properly.

"Tell me." She murmured against skin, lightly dragging her teeth over a sensitive spot on her neck. Moving her hand further down, so close to where she knew she was wanted. She felt the other girl grab her head, running her fingers through her hair, dragging her back up. The look in the other girls eyes, the darkness in them, almost floored her. She could see the need clearly through the half lidded gaze.

"Please." The single word seemed to echo through the room, made her look at those perfect lips it had fallen from, saw them form the next words. "Please, I need you inside me. I need you to make me come."

"Ok." She breathed back, her brain not really functioning enough to string together enough words to reassure her that she would do whatever the other had asked. She looked back up into those eyes and pushed into her, watching them flutter close with a moan. "Look at me."

"Katie… Please, just… Oh God."

"Effy. Look at me." Katie repeated. She felt Effy's hips follow her rhythm, the tightening around her fingers. Saw her struggling to open her eyes, the pupils fully blown when she finally did. She felt hands scratching at her back, clawing her closer.

"So fucking good." Effy moaned, throwing her head back, clutching Katie's head to her chest, opening herself up more. Katie took her cue, thrusting just a little bit faster, just a little bit harder, placing her free hand at the small of Effy's back, steadying her. Her mouth closing around the nipple that was suddenly right in front of her. That earned her another moan and she smirked slightly.

She loved this, seeing Effy letting go completely, knowing it was all because of her. Effy was usually so calm, collected, right now though, right now she was grinding onto every thrust. Loosing herself in their rhythm, moaning louder at every movement Katie made, every flick of her tongue against her nipple. It made her want to shout it from the rooftops, she made her feel like this. Katie made Effy frantically grip her, made her sweat, made her come completely undone. She didn't need to though, she would make Effy do it for her. It wouldn't be from a rooftop, but they could work their way up to that, hopefully.

She gently kissed her jaw line, finding the contrast to her almost violent thrusts, beautiful. Curling her fingers slightly and watched Effy scream her name at the top of her lungs before collapsing forwards towards her. Felt the mad fluttering around her fingers, felt the proof of her orgasm completely soak her hand.

"You're the gorgeous one." She whispered, gently stroking Effy's back. She could hear the wild heartbeats, feel it under her hand. Her breaths slowed down, eyes struggling to keep open. Katie sighed, knowing that she wouldn't find much relief from the steady throbbing between her own legs. She didn't mind though, perfectly content to let Effy practically pass out on her.

She eased Effy down on the sheets, regretfully removing the hand from between Effy's legs. It caused a small aftershock to run through Effy's body, a tired sigh falling from her lips. Katie wrapped them in the sheets, gently pushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. She kissed a sweaty brow, wrapping her arms around her, felt Effy snuggle deeper into her embrace, falling asleep.

"I think I could fall for you…" She whispered quietly into the sleeping girl's skin. "…or maybe I already have…"

**-C.S-**

Emily typed up the final few words of the things she had learned about James "Jimmy" Cook, reading through the things she had written down. She thought she had included it all, the crime spree, the people he associated with. Her eyes lingered a moment at Naomi's name, feeling the delicious soreness between her legs. She grinned, stretching her limbs. There was no denying that Naomi knew exactly how to satisfy her. She contemplated removing Naomi all together. The decision was taken away from her as the receiver for the bugs she'd planted, crackled to life. The little light labelled 'Naomi's apartment', lit up.

"Naomi, I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm telling you they're not who they say they are." Cook's voice sounded tinny, hollow, through the receiver.

"Fuck off, Cook." Naomi countered.

"Listen to me, I know you think you're all loved up and shit, but she is using you!" He continued.

"I'm not loved up." Emily could practically see the eye roll, she could definitely hear the huff.

"Fine, shagged up, whatever. The point is that JJ has found some shit on the both of them, we need to warn Effy too. They sell information for a living… You know what that means, Naomi."

The small gasp behind Emily made her turn the volume down. She looked over her shoulder at Katie, hiding the dread she felt in her gut. She saw the horror on her twins face and got to her feet, wordlessly starting to gather their things.

"What are we going to do?" Katie asked, Emily could feel her eyes burning into her back. She closed her eyes, sighing.

"We get the hell out of here." Emily answered calmly, much calmer then she felt. They were in trouble, she knew that. She had no idea how they had found out, not really paid attention to the weird guy called JJ, or his skills. Evidently, she should have though.

"But… What if I want to stay?" She looked up from the computer, having just hit send. The question baffling her.

"Too late now, Katie, I just sent off all the info on all of them. Get your shit together, take the car and get the fuck out of the city." She stepped closer to Katie, giving her a brief hug. "Just get moving. If I know Naomi, she'll be here soon. She'll want to confront me, us, in person."

"But what about… you?" Emily heard the unspoken question, knew this was about Effy and not her.

"I'll meet you in Paris." She answered, referring to the plan they'd worked out years ago. She looked at Katie, seeing the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I don't think any of them will want anything to do with us, including Effy. Now get moving!" She watched Katie go through the motions for a moment, packing what little she had brought in the first place, before concentrating on her own stuff.

They worked in silence, no words really needed. Knowing time was running out, Emily threw another look at Katie, watching her bite her lip to trying to hold her tears in. She sighed at the sight, shaking her head slightly. She'd warned Katie a million times not to get too involved. There were only two rules to this game, as far as she was concerned. One, do not get too close and two, know when to run. She knew she had kinda slipped up on the first rule herself, but she could still make the last one work.

"I'm packed." Katie announced, sweeping her eyes over the apartment one last time, before letting them settle on Emily. "Keys?"

"Here." Emily handed her the car keys, and was dragged into another hug.

"Stay safe, you hear? And don't get yourself killed. I will personally kick your sorry little ass if you do." Emily chuckled at that, squeezing Katie a bit tighter.

"That goes for you too." She answered. Katie grinned at her, slipping out of the hug and making her way to the door. "Remember, Paris."

"See you there, baby sis." Katie shot her one last look before closing the door, leaving Emily all alone. She stood there for a second, numbly staring at the door. She hoped Katie would get away smoothly, she really did. Hoped she wouldn't be stupid enough to try and say goodbye to Effy.

The knock she had been waiting for, came ten minutes later. She smirked at Naomi's predictability, knowing who it was on the other side of the door without even looking. She got up from the couch, grabbing the bag at her feet, hefting the satchel with her laptop onto her shoulder and threw open her front door. Naomi had her hand raised, obviously going to knock again.

"Naomi, fancy seeing you here." She smirked at the shocked expression on her face. "I'd invite you in, but I've got places to be, people to meet and all that."

"You… You're leaving." Emily could see the cogs working in that gorgeous blonde head of hers, her eyes taking in the bag, the empty apartment behind her.

"Yeah, I got what I was after." She answered, raising an eyebrow.

"You sold us out, didn't you." The words were calm, more a statement then a question. "I thought we…" Naomi shook her head, eyes on the floor. She looked vulnerable, weak. It made Emily want to scoff, but she held her tongue, wanting to see how this would play out. "Did I mean nothing to you?"

"Oh no…" Emily smiled, watching in cruel amusement as Naomi looked at her hopefully. "You were an excellent fuck." Naomi's face fell, looking like she had just punched her in the stomach. "Aww…" Emily's smile turned sickly. "Did you think there was more there? That we were special, or some other shit like that? That we were going to fall madly in love and live happily ever after?" She let the sickly sweet smile fall from her face. "As I said, you were a good shag, but that's it. I used you to get closer to all of you and you fell for it. End of story. Now get out of my way, unless you plan on stopping me?" Seeing no attempt to restrain her, Emily walked past her to the elevator.

"Emily…" She didn't turn at the sound of Naomi's voice, just waited patiently for the elevator to get to her floor, getting in as soon as it opened. She turned, facing Naomi one last time.

"It's been fun babe, let's do it again some time." She blew the dejected blonde a kiss, smirking at her as the door closed. The smirk slid off as soon as she was alone and leaned tiredly against the cool surface of the elevator doors. The heaviness she felt settling inside her, was something new. It almost felt like something she hadn't felt for a very long time. Guilt.

**-C.S-**

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**Good news, there you have the Fitch twins and some smut. Bad news? I'm going to Mexico to celebrate my mum's 50th. I'll be gone for a couple of weeks, which means no updates for a while.**

**Let me know what you think and all that. **


	4. All I need is time

**A/N:** Hi all. Just a few notes on timelines and stuff, just in case anyone's wondering. The timelines for each chapter is everywhere from 17 years (the first one) to just about two or three weeks (this one). For instance, the last one spanned over about one and a half month. Between the first two chapters, there's a gap for about 5 years. This makes Cook and Naomi around 22-23 years old at this time.

**P.S: **I'm sorry for the delay, there was a slight hiccup with one of the scenes in here. You'll all see which one.

**Chapter 4: All I need is time.**

He watched the clouds roll overhead, rain soaking him to core. He was almost to his door when he spotted it. Muttering under his breath, he made his way across the street from his building. A figure was huddled on a bench, looking miserable. It wasn't just because the figure was soaking wet, the entire body language that was projected spoke to him about someone who was almost broken. In all his life, he'd never seen her like this. It sort of scared him.

"You should get out of the rain, you might catch your death out here." He said softly, sitting down next to her. "And why are you out here instead of in there?"

"I don't know when they will be showing up." She answered, hoarsely. He closed his eyes, leaning heavily back on the bench with a sigh. "I don't even know who 'they' are." He opened his eyes in time to catch the air quotes on the word 'they'.

"We're running again, aren't we?" He asked, voice still soft, eyes staring blindly at a spot in front of him. He had hated running the last time, hated knowing that they'd just abandoned everything he had ever known. The only real mother he had ever known. He knew why she had told them to run, knew that she believed this would give them a better chance, but he still felt that tendril of guilt stirring in him at the thought of her.

"I don't think she left us much choice. We have no idea who got that mail, and even if we did… Well, I think it's just time to disappear for a while." Naomi answered easily, a note of authority creeping in to her voice. He shot a quick glance at her, noting a new hardness in the set of her jaw, the lack of the usual light in her eyes. Maybe she wasn't broken, maybe she was just pissed off. He cocked his head, letting his eyes linger a little while longer, trying to get a better read on her. There was pain there, but at the same time a determination. He allowed a small smile to come through, his Naomi was still in there.

"Just us or..?" He let the question hang in the air for a moment, noting the look of contemplation on her face.

"We should probably bring Panda and her boys too." Naomi acquiesced, looking back at him. "Possibly Effy. You warned her before coming here, right? She needs to know about Katie and…" She trailed off, but he knew who she was going to mention. "…I don't even know if that's her real name." Cook knew they weren't talking about Katie anymore.

"JJ found out that they're using their real first names, kinda like us. Their real last name is Fitch." He threw an arm over the back of the bench, stretching his legs out in front of him. Waiting for Naomi to process the new information, itching to get this emotional crap out of the way so he could ask where they were going, what was next on the agenda.

"Right…" Naomi trailed off again, drawing a shaky breath. "You know, this wasn't quite the way I saw this playing out." She didn't elaborate, but Cook didn't mind. She was silent for a while longer, seemingly not noticing him at all. He wished it would stop raining so he could light a smoke, he settled for fiddling with his lighter instead.

"Are we just going to sit here?" He asked after a few minutes, not quite coping with the silence.

"Remember the gallery I told you about in New York?" She asked, shifting her focus to him again. He remembered it vaguely, something to do about they guy owning it being an arms dealer or something. Naomi had a lot of causes, a lot of reasons for robbing the people they did.

"Vaguely." He answered truthfully. She grinned a bit at that, but the light in her eyes was still absent.

"Anyways, just before you blindsided me with the thing with Katie and… With the twins." He didn't comment on the obvious lack of saying Emily's name out loud, but he took note of it. "…I was coming to talk to you about that job. We got a commission on one of the works hanging in the gallery, I accepted." He sat straighter, scenarios running through his head already. "We were already going to make this our next big project, so I figured why not." She shrugged. "You tossed your phone right, scrapped your sim card?" The change of topic threw him for a moment.

"Yeah, I have. And I got you this too." He drew out a plastic bag from under his coat, showing her the content. There were 5 mobile phones in it. "I have to get Effy one if she's coming. Don't think there is one of our phones that are clean. Whatever flaws Katie and Emily…" He watched her flinch slightly at the name. "…have, they are good at what they're doing." The look on Naomi's face subtly shifted at that remark, a faint smile on her lips. "And I don't mean just the shagging." He grinned, earning a smack on the arm.

"You're an ass, Cook." She huffed, still smiling.

"Yes I am, but I'm your ass." He grinned back. It was true though, he would always be hers. Not in a romantic way, never like that, but he would always be there for her. He had made a promise and he never broke one of those lightly. "What about the storage space" He asked, trying to expel the image of Gina, bleeding on a floor, begging him to take care of her daughter. Telling him that he was like her own son.

"It's not going anywhere, no one knows about it but you and me. Can't be traced to us at all." His mind drifted to the first few weeks in London when they practically lived in there. It wasn't until they had gone through every scrap of paper in the place that they'd moved into an apartment. The amount of information had been staggering, detailed description of every job, why they went for the targets they did, who was in on it, who their contacts were. It had been fascinating to read about the things Gina had taught them, told them about, written in the simple code she had shared with them when they were 10 and 11.

"I miss her." He breathed without realizing, remembering her soft smile, the light in her eyes when she looked at either of them. She had taught him so much, not just about locks and cylinders and how to hotwire a car, but about himself. About how he wasn't the screw up his parents had told him he was. That he wasn't a mistake, that he was a part of something, that he was family.

"I miss her too." Naomi answered simply. "But she's not here and we've got to move." The change in her voice signalled that she meant business. She stood up suddenly, grabbing his hand and dragging him up with him. "Find me some buyers for what we stole last, I don't care if you have to cut the prices, I want the stuff moved in 48 hours."

"That soon? We won't get much for it." It didn't really matter though, he knew it and so did she. They might have only done about 10 really big jobs in the 5-6 years they'd been in London, but they had all been good and had paid well. If they wanted, they could probably retire right now, specially if you counted the money Gina left them. It was just that it had never been about the money, they did jobs that got them noticed, to build a reputation. Naomi never said it, but he was sure it was because she hoped her father was still alive out there, that he would be able to trace them through their jobs.

"Who cares Cook, just move the shit." She was dragging him across the street now, into the building. "Grab what you need from here, you won't be coming back here anytime soon."

"Panda, Thommo and JJ are relocating too." He supplied. "JJ went over the apartment and came up with a bunch of bugs. He's on his way to your apartment now, ready to sweep it."

"Guess you were right about them being good at what they do." She remarked dryly, he heard the anger though, the disappointment.

"Fuck them both, we always knew we were getting attention. This just proves it. Let's face it Naomikins, we're famous in certain circles." He grinned at her, his best boyish smile, the one that never failed to make her roll her eyes. He wasn't disappointed. "Now, lets see how much shit I've managed to gather in the year I've lived her. And maybe get us both a towel." She shot him a filthy look. "Don't worry." He quickly added, throwing up his hands. "They're clean, I promise."

"We'll see about that." She answered with a smirk. They fell seamlessly into their form for silent communication as soon as he opened his door. They didn't know what kind of bugs Emily and Katie had used, and for all they knew the bugs were still active. They shared a look, making their way towards the opposite sides of the room, stuffing things randomly into a couple of duffle bags.

**-C.S-**

"…zip lined through the jungle, it was amazing!" She barely paid attention to him. Nodding absentmindedly to him, throwing in a small smile for good measure. He seemed pleased with himself, smug even. She supposed he was good looking, with his sweeping hair and kind face. She cocked her head to survey him more closely, letting her eyes bore in to his in a way that had most people squirming in less then a second. He just smiled calmly back at her and she came to the conclusion that he was exactly her type.

"Sounds great." She answered curtly. He might be her type, but that didn't mean she wanted anything to happen. Her eyes glided to the door again, dismissing him from her mind. He kept prattling on though, not realizing that he had outstayed his welcome several minutes ago. She rolled her eyes at his inability to take a hint, until a certain phrase made her freeze.

"…finest glass of scotch in all of London." Her eyes snapped back to him, narrowing.

"What did you just say?" She asked incredulously.

"I said…" He answered with a smirk. "That I heard this was the place where you could get the finest glass of scotch in all of London." He raised an eyebrow, smirk deepening. "Care to show me your selection?"

"And where the fuck did you hear that?" She chuckled, leaning casually against the bar. Her eyes once again drifted away from him, scanning the small crowd in the place.

"Oh, I have my sources Effy." The use of her name shocked her, but she didn't let it show. She quickly scanned his appearance again, judging the risk in her head. He didn't look like a cop, but these days that was hard to tell.

"Care to share these sources?" She countered, sounding utterly bored, like she really couldn't care less either way. She watched Cook and Naomi walk in to the place, not even making eye contact with her. She would have bet the entire bar on them already having taking note of the situation though. Her hand rested lightly on the shotgun hidden in front of her.

"Well, I suppose that wouldn't hurt." A half shrug from his shoulders, she noted that his hands were still in plain view. Saw Naomi get closer out the corner of her eye, sitting down a couple of chairs down from them and casually indicating to the other side of the guy sitting in front of her. She tilted her head slightly, saw Cook in the same position on his other side and half smiled. "It was this guy called Cook." The guy in front of her finished.

"Is that so?" She said, making sure to sound intrigued, managed to sound more sarcastic then anything else.

"Yup." The smug bastard in front of her answered, grinning at her.

"Why don't we ask him?" Effy answered, smiling deeper at the look of confusion on his face. "Cook!" She bellowed, not taking her eyes off the one in front of her. He was starting to look pale. "You know this fucker?"

"Can't say that I do." Cook answered, sounding bored, sliding out of his chair again. He walked up behind the guy, putting a hand on his shoulder. Effy scanned the crowd again, looking for anyone taking an interest in the situation. She saw Naomi do the same. Their eyes connected and there was an almost invisible shake of Naomi's head, telling her that Naomi had reached the same conclusion as she had.

"I think we should go have a quiet word in the back room." Effy stated.

"Right, you heard the lady. Come along now." Cook said, she could see the grip he had on the other guy's shoulder tighten, dragging him along after Effy and through the door to the back room. Naomi slipped in moments later.

"No one showed any interest. Not that I could see." She murmured quietly to Effy. "He could be wired though." She added, just loud enough for Cook to catch. Cook sprang into action without more prompting, spinning the guy around.

"Hey!" The guy exclaimed as Cook ripped his shirt open.

"Shut up." Cook grunted, teethes clenched, a muscle in his jaw jumping dangerously. The guy appeared to be clean, but Cook still had a death grip on his arms. "Who the fuck are you and why are you claiming to know me?"

"You should probably do a sweep of him." Naomi commented calmly, it sounded vaguely like she was commenting on the weather or something equally trivial. "Did JJ get you his new gadget thingy?" Effy was suddenly struck by the difference in Naomi's voice, her eyes. There was a new edge, a hardness, that hadn't been there before. Naomi looked up at her and the feeling grew. "Effy?"

"Hmm? Oh.. Yeah." She spun around, riffling through a desk near the door. The thing that threw her in Naomi's eyes, hadn't been the hardness or the new edge. Those things she could handle just fine. No, it had been the almost empty feel to them, like she had just shut off most of her emotions. Effy suppressed a small shudder at the thought. She handed the small device to Naomi with a grin and to her relief, got a small grin in return.

"Heads up, Cook." Naomi threw the device to Cook, who caught it without letting go of the other guy.

"Look, this really isn't necessary. Keith told me to mention Cook's name. Honestly, I didn't mean anything by it." The guy rambled, eying the little device suspiciously. Effy laughed, wondering what he thought it was exactly. "I swear to God, I'll just leave and never come back here. I was just after some lock picks and a set of blueprints, maybe a gun. Just… Don't…" He flinched and closed his eyes when Cook nearly stabbed him in the chest with an antenna. There was a soft whirring sound, but no beeps.

"He's clean." Cook grumbled, looking like he wanted to hit something, preferably the guy visibly sagging in front of him. Naomi seemed to relax, but her hand was still behind her, probably clutching the gun she usually kept at the back of her pants.

"Who sent you?" Naomi murmured quietly, her voice icy. Effy feigned total disinterest in the exchange, lighting a cigarette.

"I swear to God, no one sent me!" The guy pleaded desperately. Effy wondered if he thought he was about to be killed. She knew that Cook and Naomi wouldn't do something like that under normal circumstances, but… That look in Naomi's eyes, or the lack of it. She cocked her head, studying Naomi. It was obvious that Emily had ripped something to pieces in her. Opened a part of Naomi that normally stayed hidden, something that usually was controlled. The gun whipping out from under Naomi's jacket, didn't startle her. She knew it was coming.

"If you're lying to me, I will blow your fucking kneecaps off. Are we clear?" The guy nodded dumbly, looking terrified. Cook actually looked surprised, but he masked it well. "Now, who. The. Fuck. Are. You?" The tone of her voice, the gun pointed towards him, Effy wouldn't be surprised if Cook was physically holding the guy up.

"I'm nobody. Just… I'm nobody. Please don't hurt me." The guy was snivelling now, but Naomi didn't look like it had any effect on her. Effy shook her head and wondered how she ever thought this worm was her type.

"I asked you your name." If possible, Naomi's voice became even more icy. She pulled the slide back, thumbing off the safety. "I suggest you tell me, right now." The guy sank to his knees as Cooks grip on him faltered a little. Naomi looked at Cook, briefly, and Effy saw him nod almost imperceptibly at her. The guy whimpered as Cook tightened his hold again, bringing him to his feet.

"It's Freddie. Freddie McClair." The guy sputtered, eyes trained on the gun.

"Is that your real name, Freddie?" Again, that voice sent a shiver down Effy's spine. "Cause if you're lying, I will find out." The smile on Naomi's face didn't make her look any friendlier, her eyes a cold, dead, grey colour.

"Of course it is!" He yelled, tears streaking down his cheeks.

"If you're going to shoot him, could you please take it outside? I just had the floor waxed." Effy supplied, casually taking another drag of her cigarette.

"What do you think Cook, should we take it outside?" Naomi smirked. The guy, Freddie, almost immediately started chanting 'oh God' under his breath, but Effy heard the shift in her voice, signifying that she was calming down, relaxing.

"Maybe we should, make absolutely sure and all that." Cook grinned back, looking like an overgrown boy. Effy quirked a smile, raising an eyebrow at him, he winked.

"Please, please, please, please, please…" The words trailed into sobs.

"Hear that? Sounds like he want us to take him outside." Cook interjected again.

"Listen, Freddie was it?" Naomi just ignored Cook, stepping closer to the snivelling mess on the floor. Effy wondered briefly if she might have to re-wax the floors, it looked like he was about to piss himself. She was actually kind of impressed he hadn't already. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead. Even if that did mean that I would have to pay for new floors." She smirked at Effy, who stuck her tongue out at her.

"I wouldn't have you pay for new floors you git, just the cleaning of the one already here." She answered, still grinning slightly.

"Yeah, right. Cause you didn't have us pay for a new bar top that time." Cook said, with a crooked grin.

"That was totally different. There was blood all over the thing and more then one bullet hole in it." She answered.

"Who the fuck are you people?" Effy blinked at the unknown voice, letting her gaze drop to the guy still on the floor. He was wide eyed, tear tracks clearly visible on his cheeks and looked at them all as if they were all crazy. Naomi barked a laugh.

"Us? We're just your regular, run of the mill, burglars. Nothing fancy." Cook shrugged.

"Except for when the media called us ghosts that one time." Naomi prompted.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Cook scratched his chin. "Alright, maybe we're not all that regular."

"Normal is overrated." Effy shrugged. "Anyways, what are you doing with him?" She nodded to Freddie on the floor.

"Cook here is going to have a nice chat to him about name dropping and you and me are going to have a drink." Naomi answered lightly. "I have a proposition for you." Naomi turned, securing the gun, stuffing it in the lining of her pants again, before walking calmly out the door.

"Don't worry Eff, I won't get too much blood on your shiny floor." Cook bellowed after them, laughing. Effy just shook her head, following Naomi out to the bar again.

"What are you having?" Naomi asked softly, slipping behind the bar, pointing to a chair. She turned, looking at all the bottles behind her, Effy studied the back of her head, trying to read her as she did.

"Whatever you're having is fine." Effy answered. "And why am I on this side of the bar? I'm the one that owns the bloody thing."

"That's not quite true, now is it?" Naomi said, grabbing a bottle at random, turning back to her. "Your brother owns it." The smile on Naomi's face never reached her eyes. Effy cocked her head to the side and motioned for Naomi to go on. "So that would probably mean that you could… Take off for… Let's say a year?" Naomi filled the shot glasses she'd found, pushing one towards Effy.

"And why would I want to do that?" She slammed her shot back with practiced ease. Naomi refilled it the second it hit the bar.

"Holiday?" Naomi tried.

"And since when do you go on holiday?" Naomi groaned at the question, tipping her own shot back.

"Since a pair of fucking twins came and ratted us out to God knows who and we need to get the fuck out of town." She answered truthfully. Effy noted the lack of names immediately.

"So this has to do with Katie and Emily." It was a statement, not a question. She gauged the reaction it got her. As suspected, Naomi flinched at the name. It was barely there, but she saw it as clear as day. There was also a slight tightening around her eyes, a burning anger in her eyes. Effy didn't exactly envy Emily if she ever came in to contact with Naomi again.

"Yes." Naomi said briefly. Effy contemplated her options. On the one hand, she didn't exactly like the idea of running, but Katie had proved to be hiding something she hadn't quite expected. She had thought it might have something to do with Cook and Naomi, but that they were gathering information to sell about them… That never crossed her mind. She wondered how she would react to seeing Katie again, if it ever came to that. Katie had been sweet, loving, but Effy didn't exactly do relationships. She might have made an exception for Katie though, but that was snatched away before she had even thought too much about it. And now there might be people coming after them, all of them. Realizing that the decision really already had been made for her, she drew a deep breath and swallowed her second shot as easily as the first. Tony would be pissed, but he owed her.

"Fuck it. When do we leave?" She asked.

"As soon as you can get us some passports. JJ's fixing the rest."

**-C.S-**

Cook drained the last of the miniature bottle, tossing it onto the pile with the rest of them. He looked over at the desk, watching JJ setting up the rest of his computers and crap. How he had managed to get it all with him, he'd never know. JJ seemed calm, muttering about connections and the lack of power outlets. It didn't seem to worry him that Panda wasn't here yet, that Cook and him was the first to arrive and would be there, alone, for another few days before the others came. The whole arrangement was part of Naomi's plan to confuse anyone that tried following them. Cook and JJ had gotten the fastest route. Effy, Panda and Naomi should arrive in the next day or so, while Thommo still was a few days out. He sighed heavily, leaning back against the headboards. He hated not knowing if Naomi was ok, if she was safe. He looked over at the empty alcohol bottles, wishing he'd missed one. He pushed himself off the bed.

"Hey Jay, I'm gonna go get some more alcohol. You want anything?" Ha asked, shrugging into his jacket. JJ looked up at him, frowning.

"We're not supposed to leave. Naomi expressly told us to stay put. To only leave the hotel if it was absolutely necessary." Cook just shot him a look. "Although, from your demeanour and aggressive stance, I see I won't be able to persuade you to stay here. And since I'm not really up to physically stopping you…" JJ smiled slightly. "I really don't see how I'm expected to keep you here." Cook grinned at him. "I will have to insist that you are careful and perhaps suggest that you keep this on your person at all times." He held up what looked like a button.

"I'm always careful." Cook smirked, talking the small object from him, studying it. "And what the fuck is this supposed to be?"

"It's a gps tracker, but instead of connecting directly to the satellites it connects to the cell phone towers and then connects to the satellites. It ensures that you have coverage in place you normally wouldn't." Cook looked at the small button like thing again, amazed that such a thing existed. "I'm working on a way to conceal it in even smaller things, but I've figured that if all of you just replace one of your buttons in your clothes with this." He held up a spare device. "We will always have a way to find you."

"How safe is it with regards to who can access the signal?" Cook asked, eyeing the one in his own hands, suspiciously. "I mean, can anyone, besides you, track us via this?"

"They would have to crack the serial on the tracker, find the sequence they transmit to and somehow manage to get their hands on this laptop and break through the many security measures I've put in place on it." JJ looked contemplative for a moment. "I suppose it could be done, but it is highly unlikely."

"How unlikely?" Cook pushed.

"I would say there is a 0.0468 percent chance that it might happen." JJ answered, barely hesitating. Cook knew that this was as close to not possible at all, he would ever get.

"Right then." He said, cheerfully, stuffing the transmitter into his pocket. "Did you want anything?" JJ shook his head, already immersed in his machines again. Cook chuckled to himself, closing the door softly on his way out. He took a deep breath, scanning the hallway. It was empty, of course, he hadn't expected anything else, but it didn't hurt being careful.

"You're getting as bad as Naomi." He muttered to himself, finally making his way to the lifts. Naomi had always been the one to be all paranoid, although that had gotten a lot worse in the last few weeks. He blamed the whole Emily thing. Emily had been the first person Naomi had ever really fallen for. There had been other girls, other relationships here and there, but he had never seen her fall that fast before. It baffled him that there hadn't been a stronger reaction to the betrayal, he suspected there would be a backlash at some point.

He walked out of the lift, heading straight for the bar, deciding to actually listen to JJ and in turn Naomi. He scanned the space for threats, still not finding anything. A bunch of what looked like businessmen were laughing loudly at something. A few other patrons scattered around the space, but there was no one that drew his eyes. Well, not in the threat sense. A smile crept up his face as his eyes landed on a woman sitting alone at a table. He grinned wider as she lifted her head and her eyes fell on him. She smiled shyly back. He was on his way over before he had time to think it over.

"Hello. Can I buy you a drink?" He waggled his eyebrows at her and she giggled. He let his eyes roam over her body and back up to her face. She was older then he originally thought, but she looked fit as fuck.

"Sure." She drawled in an accent he wasn't quite sure of. All he knew was that it was American. "I'll have whatever you're having." She purred, fluttering her eyelashes. "And by the way, I love your accent." This was just a bit too easy, but it had been a while. He grinned wider, winking at her as he made his way to the bar.

"Tequila, mate." He shot at the bartender. "And if there's a way you could just give me the bottle..?" He shoved a wad of dollars towards him.

"Certainly sir." The bartender handed him a bottle and a couple of shot glasses. "Will there be anything else?"

"I'll let you know. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a bird over there who loves my accent and I'm pretty sure she'll let me do whatever I want to her." He grinned at the shocked look on the bartender's face, slamming another few dollars in front of him. "Keep the change." He sauntered back to the table, locking eyes with the woman again. She really was rather shaggable

"So you're a tequila sort of a man? I like that." The woman leaned over, showing off her cleavage, dragging a finger down his arm. "Tequila always did make me a little… horny." Cook felt his cock twitch, he grinned wider.

"You don't say." He smirked. "Let's get a few shots in you then." She laughed at that, grasping his arm again.

"Are you propositioning me?" She arched a perfect eyebrow.

"Hell yeah." He answered quickly, grinning at her again.

"You want to grab that bottle of tequila and get out of here?" There was that purring tone of voice again. It was really doing things to him. He suppressed a shudder of excitement, trying picture that voice moaning in his ears as he thrust into her.

"I fucking love American women." He answered, grabbing the bottle, standing up and extending his free hand to her. "Where to?"

"I was hoping you might have a room? It would be more… convenient." Her eyes glittered. "Not to mention we could get down to business faster." She added. The phrase seemed a bit odd to him, but he shrugged it off.

"Ah, I'm travelling with a mate. I don't think he'd appreciate you screaming my praises one bed over." He smirked, leading her towards the reception area.

"Oh, I don't mind an audience, it'll cost you extra if he joins though. Unless he's as cute as you, then I'd be willing to give you the 2 for 1 special." The pieces clicked together in Cook's head and he stopped rather abruptly, making her stop too.

"You're a hooker?" He looked at her for a moment, before bursting out laughing. "That's just priceless!" He managed to squeeze out between howls of laughter, the woman looked pissed at him for drawing attention to them. Her whole demeanour seemed to change.

"Keep your fucking voice down. I'm not a hooker, I'm an escort." She hissed, looking around. Cook just kept laughing. "Look, do you want me to fuck you or not?" That shut him up. He looked her over once more, still reaching the conclusion that she was shaggable as hell.

"Alright, alright. Don't get your knickers in a twist, how much?" He asked, still eyeing her.

"I usually charge 500 a night, but for you…" She trailed a finger down his chest, he followed it's progress down to his belt buckle. "I'd charge half." The purring tone was back.

"Slow night, huh?" He grinned. "I'll give you 100 dollars for a shag. Just a normal, nothing fancy, shag." He waggled his eyebrows at her, opening the bottle of tequila and taking a swig. She grabbed the bottle from him, taking a sip herself.

"Done, but I want the cash up front." She answered, giving the bottle back.

"Afraid I'm going to stiff you?" He laughed again. "Get it? Stiff you."

"Yes yes, very funny. The money?" She countered, looking anything but amused. Cook rooted through his pants, coming up with a hundred dollar bill.

"Here you go, darling. Now, where do you want to take it." He leered at her.

"Come with me." She simply said, ignoring his innuendo, stuffing the hundred dollar bill into her bra. "I know just the place." She grabbed his hand again, leading him towards the toilets. At first he was sure that was where they were going, but she led him past them and into a storage closet instead. He really didn't care either way, he just wanted his dick damp. He eyed the short skirt in front of him, licking his lips.

"So, I'm guessing no kissing?" He asked.

"You got that right." She answered. "Also, no leaving noticeable marks and you use a condom. You got a problem with that?"

"Nope." He shrugged. She looked pleased, he vowed to make her look more pleased by the time he was done with her.

"You want all the clothes off, or just my underwear?" She hiked up her skirt suggestively, showing him a glimpse of garters. He licked his lips again.

"No, I'm fine with the clothes on, knickers off option.." She moved to take off her barely there thong. "No no, allow me." He smirked, his hands already reaching out to take over. Her skin was smooth under his hands, the feeling reminded him of how long it had really been since the last time he had shagged someone, anyone. He felt himself get hard at the prospect, harder still when he eased the thong down.

"Such a gentleman." She murmured, burying her hands in his hair. "Are you hard for me? Are you going to fuck me 'til I scream?" He grunted as she tugged him up, stepping out of her underwear. She trailed a finger down his chest again, but this time she flicked his belt buckle open when she got to it, button following next. He closed his eyes briefly when she graced his cock as she tugged down his zipper, opening them to look at her again. She looked hungry, he realized, eyes trained on his cock. Maybe she did mean all the things about 'only for him' and that crap.

"You ready for me, babe? Did I get you all nice and wet, ready for my big cock?" He grazed her inner thigh again, brushing against her pussy. There was a nice little shudder, he hoped it was from arousal and not disgust. He studied her face again, but her eyes were closed.

"I want you to fuck me." She breathed, leaning against him. It was his turn to shudder as her hand grabbed his cock, pumping it. "Grab my purse, there's a condom in there." He turned around swiftly, grabbing the purse of the floor, handing it to her. She looked surprised that he didn't just open it and riffle through it himself. She got over the shock apparently, getting a condom out, expertly opening the packet. "You want me to put it on?" She asked seductively.

"Yes please." He managed to get out, already painfully aroused. He'd always liked women who knew what they were doing. He felt her roll the condom on, squeezing once for good measure. He put his hand up her skirt again, raising it to show off her garters, her pussy. Brought his hand up between her legs, surprising her again, rubbing circles around her clit. She moaned, just like he wanted her too.

"Fuck, that feels good." She breathed. He leaned into her, hand still between them.

"I'm just getting started." He rumbled into her ear, causing another moan. He could feel her getting wet, he grinned against her throat. He shifted his stance a little, hiking one of her legs up around him, she got the idea at once. "The other leg too." She put her arms around his neck, jumping up a bit as she crossed her legs around his waist.

"Please." She whispered in his ear. He obliged, thrusting into her in one quick motion. "Oh fuck!" She exclaimed and it was like music to his ears.

"How do you like it?" He asked. "Hard and fast?" He thrust into her roughly, making her gasp. "Or slow and deep?" Another thrust, deeper this time, she gasped again. "Or hard and deep?" He smirked, thrusting in a third time.

"The last one." She panted. "Definitely, the last one." He felt her clench around his cock as she spoke.

"Excellent choice." He grunted. He shifted his hold on her, spotting a table to his left. He smirked into her neck, hoisted her higher, using the leverage to thrust deep into her again and swung her around, placing her on the table.

"Resourceful, I like it." She moaned into his ear. The sound spurred him on, made him speed up his rhythm, she met his every thrust, with her hips, becoming more and more vocal. "Oh God, that feels good. Just like that!"

"Are you sure about that?" He smirked, changing his angle a little, making her gasp in way that he knew was real. Words didn't mean anything to him, but her reactions did. He felt his orgasm coming closer, hand reaching down between them to make sure she came too. "Grab my balls." He grunted, he couldn't help it, he just needed a bit more stimulation. He was vaguely aware that he was chanting the words, too lost in the rhythmic clenching of her pussy, the throbbing of his cock. He felt her flutter around him, and lost it completely, thrusting half-hazardly into her as he released. He was trying to get his breathing under control when he became aware of a knocking on the door.

"Cook, if your done fucking that poor woman's brains out, get your ass out here!" A startling familiar voice called through the door. "Get a move on, we're relocating."

"Alright, alright, just give me a sec." He looked apologetically at the woman underneath him, untangling himself from her. He discarded the condom with practiced ease and threw it into a corner of a room. "Sorry, darling. The ball and chain calls." He winked at her.

"You're married?" He noted the small look of horror flitting across the woman's face, the still glassy eyes. He smiled smugly.

"Nah, but I might as well be." He countered. The idea of being married to Naomi, made him cringe a little. "Well, maybe not. She's sort of my sister."

"Cook! NOW!" Naomi roared from outside the door.

"Bossy, isn't she?" The woman murmured.

"You have no idea." Cook answered, zipping up his pants. "It was a pleasure meeting you." He grinned. "Maybe I'll see you around." He was out the door before she could answer him, but he already knew it anyways. He would probably never see her again.

"Took you long enough." Naomi grumbled when she saw him.

"You're here early? Something happen?" He inquired, following her through the hotel.

"Just caught an earlier flight, nothing to worry about." Her voice sounded tight though, like something was bothering her.

"Naomi." He grabbed on to her shoulder. "What the fuck happened?" She let herself be turned around, but refused to meet his eyes. "Look at me."

"We… We saw the Fitch twins, or Panda saw them." She gave him an insincere smile, it slipped into a grimace. "I hate this, I fucking hate it." She grumbled.

"Shh." He tried, dragging her to his chest. "We'll fix it all, just you wait and see." She mumbled something against his chest, he loosened his hold, looking down at her. "What was that?"

"I said, I don't know where your hands have been." She smiled weakly at him, but made no move to get out of his embrace. "I'll be fine Cook. Thanks though."

"Are you sure?" He looked at her again, noting the exhaustion on her face. "And how long since you slept properly?"

"I'm fine." She repeated. "Can we not talk about this? Just… I just need some time and I'll be as good as new." They both knew she was lying, but he accepted it. For now. If she wanted time, he would bend over backwards to give it to her.

"So… Where are we going?" He grinned at her, receiving his first true smile back.

"Effy found an apartment, we're going to move in there. JJ and Panda are on their way there now."

"What's with all the rush?" He whined. "I like living at a hotel."

"Shut up, you just like the hookers." Naomi hailed a cab, bundling them both in, rattling off an address to the driver.

"I'll have you know, she was an escort." Cook grinned. Naomi rolled her eyes at him, grinning back.

Yes, he would definitely give her all the time in the world if he could.

**-C.S-**

* * *

**There is nothing to say about this really. You all know what to do down here. And to the people offended by the sex scene, just imagine it's Naomi and Emily, role playing with a strap on. Alright? alright.**

**Also, thank you Es for your input on guns and such. It was much appreciated. **


	5. So addictive

**A/N: **Have you read Kitchen Stories yet? Do you know which chapter is mine? No? Then what are you waiting for, go read it right now! Go on, this chapter will still be here when you're done. Anyways, on with the story and all that. *grins* Have fun and enjoy. Happy Easter.

**Chapter 5: So addictive.**

She was vaguely aware of the constant sounds of the city around her, but the focus was really more on herself. On the way she weaved through the throngs of people, not caring who she bumped into. On the sound of her own breathing, the roaring of blood in her ears. She cut across the street, between cars that were stuck in the heavy traffic, disappearing down an alley that was mercifully empty of life. She added another burst of speed, running almost as fast as she possibly could. She could feel a single bead of sweat making its way down between her shoulder blades, registered the slight movement of an animal as she disturbed the surprisingly quiet alley. She made a sharp right turn at the end of it, slowing down again as she reached yet another busy street. She could see her goal now, where she was headed.

"Time!" She gasped the second she clapped her hand around a pole. Bending down, trying to catch her breath.

"11 minutes, 12 seconds and 43 milliseconds." JJ's voice sounded in her head. "In theory, that should give you approximately 3 minutes, 47 seconds and 57 milliseconds before the train gets there." She frowned, going over the timelines in her head. She felt her heartbeat calm, her breathing even out.

"I don't think this way is going to work. We need another way in and out. There's no way we can run full tilt through the goddamn city with all our equipment. Not to mention the way back. Cars are not an option, the traffic is almost always backed up around here." She thought out loud. JJ might be a bit odd, but he seemed to understand her thought process a bit better when she did it like this, seemed to figure out where she was going before she even knew herself. "We need the specks for the alarm system too, any luck there yet?"

"No, not yet. It's not even been a week since we got here though, we still have plenty of time." JJ answered calmly. She knew she had asked him the same question just before she had started her run. He never complained about her constant need to make sure it was all on track though, seemed to take comfort in her planning process instead.

"I know." She sighed, finally descending the stairs in front of her, following the endless stream of people pouring in. "Still another 3 months to go." She grumbled, more to herself then JJ. The waiting was driving her nuts, giving her far too much time to think. She didn't like thinking these days, unless it was planning for this job, there were far too many things reminding her of… She shook her head. "Which line again?" She mumbled into the hands free, an image of brown eyes and red hair dissolving in her head.

"The red one." JJ answered, sounding apologetic. It made her cringe slightly that he used that tone, but she let it pass.

"Fucking figures." She muttered under her breath, making her way to the platform. JJ didn't comment, she wasn't sure if it was because he hadn't heard, or if this was his way of dealing with her sudden mood swings. "Thanks." She added louder, making sure he heard this time.

"No problem." He answered easily. "It might interest you to know that the tracker I put on you is working perfectly. If it does come to an all out chase, either due to police or private security firms, I will be able to guide you all to where you need to go." For someone who claimed that he had no idea about human emotions, he sure seemed to know when to change the subject. "I just need to amplify the antenna without compromising the size, in case the tunnels are a viable option." He trailed off and she just knew he had already started working it out in his head.

The train pulled in, she plucked the hands free from her ear, stuffing it in the messenger bag she carried. She knew JJ would only be muttering in her ear about all sorts of electronic stuff she knew next to nothing about. Letting herself relax, she found a place to stand, her eyes automatically scanning the faces around her. She spotted a pimply teen, nervously eyeing the old woman next to him, or more accurately, her bag. Repositioning herself in front of the doors, she kept her head down, waiting for what she knew was coming. The train halted, doors hissing open and the car erupted in chaos. The old woman screamed, the pimply teen barrelling towards the exit. She smirked, her elbow coming up almost reflexively. The boy went down, his nose bloody.

"You made it too obvious, kid." She murmured in his ear as she bent to retrieve the woman's bag. "Now, run." The pimply kid scrambled away, taking off through the people. Naomi let him run, turning back to the old lady instead. "Here you go." She didn't expect the woman to drag it out of her hands and whack her with it.

"You let him get away! Filthy thieves." She huffed, clutching the bag close, shuffling away. Naomi was left stunned.

"You're welcome." She mumbled, shaking her head. The rest of the people ignored her. She didn't understand this city in the least. She sighed, sinking down on a free seat. Maybe Cook had been right, maybe she should learn to block these things out, but even though she was a thief herself, stuff like that just bugged her. She had never stolen anything from anyone who didn't deserve it. Her mind drifted off without her permission again, settling on brown eyes and red hair again. She frowned, scowling at the darkness rushing by the window.

"This has got to fucking stop." She mumbled under her breath. "I will make it fucking stop." She grumbled. She could see her reflection in the dark window, she looked seriously pissed off. She closed her eyes, forcing the emotions back down. Forcing that face, that laughter, that fucking husky voice, out of her head. When she opened her eyes again, stony indifference looked back.

**-C.S-**

"Oh, for fucks sake! Would you just shut up about it?" She fumed. It was getting ridiculous. "I know. Alright? I know." She hoped that would be the end of it, but it never worked out that way. She had to find a way, but she was coming up empty. "I didn't know that… That this..." She waved a piece of paper in the air. "…would come in, now did I?" She sunk into a chair, groaning into her hands, paper fluttering neatly on to a table.

"Sort of makes you wish you would've listened to me, now doesn't it?" She looked up at a cheeky grin and shook her head. "Maybe things wouldn't have been so shitty now." Anger bubbled in her, the same way it had done since that day. She just couldn't seem to shake it.

"Fuck you. What the hell did I just tell you?" She was out of the chair, taking a step towards a suddenly scared looking Katie. She grabbed her arm, squeezing. "I told you to bloody well just leave it! So why won't you?" She let go suddenly, Katie winced and rubbed her arm.

"Jeez, what the fuck crawled up your arse and died?" She spat.

Emily ignored her, pacing the floor instead of actually answering. She couldn't understand why she was so… So angry all the time. It made her want to scream, or drink, or just fuck it all away. The thought flooded her brain with pictures of a body straining under her hands. Blue eyes, begging her to get on with it, a voice that whispered how wet and how much she wanted. The feelings in the same eyes, morphed from want, and something she didn't want to think about, into unbearable sadness and hurt. She wondered where she was now, her hand unconsciously flitting up to touch her lips. The sudden shift in her emotions surprised her.

"So." Katie's voice brought her back to the present. "How are we going to find them?" The question was simple, but for once she didn't have an answer.

"I have no idea right now. Just let me fucking think for a moment, alright?" She wished her sister would shut up about how they should have followed Panda when they saw her, but how the hell was she supposed to know that this job would pop up a day later? And she wasn't even sure it was Panda, because what the hell would Panda be doing in Paris? "Why were they in Paris?" She muttered out loud.

"Well, duh." Katie voiced from the other side of the room. "They were obviously running from whoever you sent that mail to." Emily ignored her and kept pacing. "I mean, I'm pretty sure at least Naomi was there with her, it sounded like her. And if Panda and Naomi was there…"

"What?" Emily's head snapped up, eyes shooting daggers at her twin.

"Umm…" Katie squirmed under her look. "I might have sort of… followed her back to her hotel and asked some questions." The last part was rushed, fearful. Emily closed her eyes, rubbing her temples.

"You followed Panda?" She asked, Katie nodded. "And you asked questions?" Katie nodded again. "Did you at least try to cover your tracks?" It came out as a growl, she took a deep breath trying to calm herself down.

"Of course I did. I'm not stupid, you know." Emily highly doubted that, but knew enough to not voice that opinion out loud. "And I managed to figure out where they were going, which is a hell of a lot more then you managed." Katie looked smug, Emily wanted to wipe the look off her face.

"Oh really." She sneered. "Enlighten me." She didn't move towards Katie at all, didn't trust herself not to punch her if she got too close. Her hands were behind her back, nails digging into palms.

"Well, I was talking to Paul-Henri, yeah?" Emily had no idea who the fuck Paul-Henri was, but kept her mouth shut. "He was obviously trying to get in my pants and all, but never mind that. He said that he'd overheard Panda talking to another blonde about her boyfriend and how she hoped he was ok in New York all by himself and she'd said that he'd be ok, cause he was with a chef. So I reckon…" Emily stopped listening, thoughts racing through her head. New York, it was obvious once she thought it through. And if Cook was already there, Naomi wouldn't be too far behind. She could practically hear Naomi in her head, talking about a little gallery, eyes lit up with excitement.

"Of course." She muttered, oblivious to the way Katie was still prattling on. "You wanted to take me with you." She ran a hand through her hair. "But where was it you said it was… Did you mention a name?" She started pacing again, trying to remember the last piece of puzzle. Trying desperately to remember the hushed tones of Naomi's voice as she had murmured into her hair that time. Naomi had thought she was asleep, but Emily had heard most of it.

"Emily… EMILY!" Katie yelled suddenly, waving a hand in front of her face. "Are you even listening? Oh for fucks sake." She huffed as Emily looked up at her, feeling dazed.

"What?" She asked, having missed at least half of what Katie had said.

"I asked you what you thought we should do now? Do we go after them?" Katie was wringing her hands, looking anxious. Emily studied her harder, no… not anxious. She looked excited, like she couldn't wait to go.

"Of course we go after them." She answered, her suspicions confirmed by the small smile on Katie's face. "We don't have much choice." She grabbed the discarded piece of paper, waving it under Katie's nose. "I would still like to know how the bleeding hell they found him. We hid him. We fucking well hid him." She saw Katie glance at the paper, face falling, the implications were clear to her too.

"I don't know how." Katie shook her head. "I never talk about him, not even with you." She met Emily's eyes. "You know that, right? I would never…"

"Yeah, I know." Emily interrupted, glancing down on the paper herself. A print out of a mail, a photo, it looked so innocent. The words still stood out at her, the cheeky smile of the boy in it. "We have to find Naomi again, it's the only way. He can't… We can't…" She drew a shuddering breath. "He's our brother."

"Maybe we could move him again?" Katie asked hopefully. "I mean, we don't have to go after them. They're going to be so fucking pissed, who knows what they'll do."

"Maybe…" Emily acknowledged, knowing there was no way they could get to James without tipping off whoever had sent them the mail. "It says…" She swallowed and tried again. "It says they will…" She couldn't get the words out. "I don't think we can get to him, Katie." She said instead. "Not before they do. Besides, what are we going to say? 'Oh sorry, James, we lied about your trust fund, it wasn't made by grandma before she died, we lied, stole and sold people out to get the money?' I really think that will go over well, don't you? Specially when we tell him he has to drop out of uni and move away from all his friends."

"Fine. What do we do?" Katie folded, just like Emily knew she would.

**-C.S-**

She snuggled deeper under the covers, trying to block out the sun that pierced through the window. Her head was pounding, a steady throbbing that just got worse the more she tried to ignore it. She groaned, trying to crack open an eye, she was vaguely aware of someone moving and grumbling next to her in the bed. She tried to remember the night before, to figure out why the hell it felt like a whole crew of construction workers had taken up residence in the her head. Hazy pictures of shots and Cook swam in her mind, of Effy slipping her a pill, of Panda dancing like a maniac, she groaned again. She finally got her eyes open, blinking rapidly until the room came blurrily into focus. She sat up, clutching her head and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"It's too bloody early. Where the fuck are you going?" A voice grumbled behind her. She stiffened, suddenly very aware of that she didn't have any clothes on.

"Cook? What the fuck are you doing in my bed? And why am I naked… Oh God, please tell me you're not naked too." She groaned, not bothering to cover herself up, she figured there was no point.

"You were drunk, you stripped off all your clothes yourself." She looked over her shoulder at him, he shrugged. "How's the noggin?" She brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose. It wasn't the first time they had ended up in bed together, but it was the first time she actually questioned if something more then sleeping had happened.

"Cook…" She sighed, grabbing a t-shirt off of the floor and put it on.

"Relax Blondie, I was a perfect gentleman." He sounded offended, or maybe amused, she couldn't tell over the pounding in her head. "Besides, you spent most of the night talking about how much you liked brown eyes, when you weren't shagging that waitress behind the club that is." She looked at him again, shaking her head gingerly when she saw the shit eating grin on his face. She vaguely remembered the waitress he was talking about, visions of her moaning in her ears assaulting her brain. She grinned back at him.

"Yeah well, she offered." She shrugged, grin turning into a smirk as she put on a pair of pants she spotted on the floor.

"That she did." He laughed, getting out of bed too. "So what are we doing today?" He asked, stretching, Naomi looked at him pointedly. "Besides drinking lots of water and eating whatever's cooking out there." The smell of bacon was drifting through the cracks in the door. She groaned, feeling her stomach object to anything that wasn't liquid or toasted.

"Fuck if I know, I'll get back to you after I get some goddamn pain killers in me. And a couple of litres of coffee." She winked at him, strolling out the door.

"We need to fix that little issue we discovered yesterday." He called after her, entirely too loud for Naomi's taste. She waved him off, her other hand drifting to her head again.

She groaned as she sunk down on a kitchen chair, unsurprised when she saw Thommo behind the stove, flipping what looked like a pancake. Effy looked up at her, shoving a cup a coffee towards her. She grunted in appreciation, clutching the cup like a lifeline. Effy just raised an eyebrow, smirking at her, before going back to her paper. Panda slinked into the room shortly after, flopping down on one of the free chairs, her head hitting the table the second she was seated. She looked over at one of the corners, knowing she'd see JJ bent over one of his contraptions, she wasn't disappointed. This was how it usually was these days, ever since she'd started the whole 'get Emily out of your head' thing. It had been somewhat successful, she could actually think the name Emily without cringing. Even if she still walked in a different direction whenever she saw someone with bright red hair. She grimaced faintly.

"Good night?" Effy asked, Naomi looked up and saw the unspoken questions in her eyes. Effy probably knew more about what was going on in her head then she did herself. She smiled weakly at her.

"I'm never drinking again." Panda groaned, not lifting her head from the table, making the rest of the room chuckle.

"You say that every time." JJ answered from his corner, warmth in his voice.

"Yeah well, I mean it this time." She mumbled, Naomi grinned and shook her head. JJ sighed, got up and disappeared into the bathroom for a moment. Seconds later he was putting a pair of painkillers down in front of Panda, wordlessly getting her some water as she swallowed them. "Thanks." She smiled up at him. Naomi tilted her head, studying them. They looked happy, peaceful. Panda kissed his hand and squeezed it, and Naomi felt a stab of jealousy over the easy interaction and small gesture of love. She pushed it firmly back down, retreating into her mind, into planning the perfect job.

"We need a way into the gallery." She suddenly said, breaking the chattering around the table. She looked up and noted that Cook had joined them, that the rest of them were eating. There was a plate of food in front of her as well. "JJ, you said something about a party? The one that the owner held every year?"

"Yes, well, technically it's not a party, it's a fund raiser." Naomi just looked at him. He cleared his throat. "Anyways, it's in three days and takes place in one of the gallery's bigger rooms. We're going to need invitations and I'm not sure how the security is looking." She watched him look at Effy, saw her nod once. "Effy will figure out the invitation problem. I'm guessing you will have to pay for it, but as I understand, money isn't really an issue."

"Nah, we got the money part covered." Cook interjected, winking at Naomi. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned backwards in the chair.

"Excellent. Now, once we're in there, we need to put up some cameras. We'll go over the blueprints of the building and determine the correct placements later." He nodded to Naomi, making it clear who 'we' were. "I can probably get one or two of you in as part of the catering staff." He looked around at them.

"Sounds like a job for the Cookie Monster." Cook grinned. "What do you say Thommo? You and me and a few crates of champagne? I reckon we would nail it, don't you?" Thomas nodded, grinning back at Cook.

"Which means we need three invitations." Effy offered. "It shouldn't be any problems. I'll reach out to some of my contacts."

"The main problem will be distracting the rest of the people from what we're doing. We need to blend in, donate some money and all that crap." Naomi continued. "If I remember right, the owner is going to make a speech somewhere during the night. It will be the perfect opportunity to have a look around. The thing is that we have to be careful of the guards that's probably stationed around the other sections of the property." She finished, looking around, seeing them all nod in agreement. "Good. Now, JJ will be outside as usual, keeping an eye on us." He looked like he wanted to salute her or something, but settled for another nod instead, she smiled at him. "And one last thing. Panda, Effy, we need to blend in, which means we need to go dress shopping." Panda grinned widely at her, bouncing a bit in her seat. Effy just raised an eyebrow, as usual, and smirked.

**-C.S-**

One month and not even a trace, she had all but given up on ever locating Naomi and her merry band of thieves. She'd spent most of the month looking at various galleries around town, but without even knowing where in New York it was, it felt like looking for the famous needle in the fucking haystack. Katie hadn't found anything either, although where she had been looking, Emily wasn't quite sure of. So here she was, standing outside of a club in the shadows, having a night off.

The building was vibrating at her back, the bass thumping through her. She drew a deep breath, relishing in the relatively cool night air. She'd been inside for the past three hours, dancing like a maniac, drinking more then her share of alcohol, she'd still be in there if it wasn't for the sudden urge for a cigarette and air. Not wanting to talk to anyone, not even for an inane 'do you have a light' question, she'd gone for the darkest corner of the alley she could find. No one would ever see her there, unless they knew where to look.

She leant against the brick wall, eyes looking up trying to find the stars she knew should be there somewhere. Unfortunately all she could see was more lights and an inky black sky. She lit her cigarette, filling her lungs with smoke, exhaling with a sigh. She was out of ideas, had no clue how to even start explaining to the person who hired her, them, to find Naomi. New York was just too big.

Movement at the end of the street drew her eyes, she instinctively drew back further into the shadows. She could hear singing, horribly out of key, but somehow familiar. She squinted into the darkness, trying to make out the people who were very noisily making their way towards the back entrance. She counted 5, maybe 6, people. Something twisted in her gut, she quickly stubbed the cigarette out, hoping it hadn't given her away.

A street light shone on blonde hair and her heart skipped a beat. She chalked it up to excitement over finally finding what she looked for, couldn't think of another reason. Because there they were, all of them, all dressed up, looking like they didn't belong at the seedy little club and yet looking like they owned the world. Her eyes trailed up Naomi's form, the memories she had really didn't do her much justice, she was breathtaking. The rest of them faded into the background, all she could see in that moment was Naomi smiling, singing along to whatever song Cook was belting out. She shook her head and regarded the group of people, deciding to follow them in to the club. Emily wondered briefly if Naomi would even recognise her if she was seen. Her hair was a much darker colour now. She figured it was less conspicuous like this, a dark red in stead of her usual vibrant hue. It was still red enough to get noticed, but she wasn't the first thing you saw in a crowd any more.

The sound of the music, slammed through her as the door opened. She hastily made her way forward, catching it just as it was about to click shut. The group was easy to follow, too wrapped up in themselves to spot anyone following them. She watched them head for one of the booths near the back and made her way over there. She slid in behind them, carefully avoiding being noticed. She sat with her back to the group, keeping her head down, she could barely make out some of the conversation behind her.

"…rather well. I can't believe we pulled it off!" She heard JJ say. "This is going to make things so much easier when we make our move." Panda answered something she couldn't quite make out, a murmur of agreement rippling through the rest of them.

"Enough of the shop talk, what does everyone want?" She heard Thommo ask, voice rumbling through the music. The answers bled together, ranging from shots to beer, to cider. Emily couldn't make sense of who had asked for what. There was a silence for a beat, she wondered idly if she should send a quick text to Katie, let her know she had found them. Maybe she could help keep track of them, help follow them when the time came. Another snatch of conversation drifted through the din, making her stop rooting through her bag for her phone.

"Another one, Blondie? Jesus, they just can't get enough of you, can they?" She risked a quick glance and saw Naomi being led to the dance floor by some woman. Cook chuckled behind her, but Emily paid no attention to him. She didn't understand the stab of pure jealousy that suddenly coursed through her. She clenched her hands, following Naomi with her eyes. Realising she would have to move to keep watching her, she got out of her seat. She didn't take her eyes of the pair in front of her for a second.

They grinded together on the dance floor, too close to mistake it for anything it wasn't, Emily fought the urge to punch someone. She watch the other woman lean in and say something, Naomi tilting her head back, laughing. Emily grimaced as the woman seemed to draw Naomi closer, hands roaming in places her hands had no business being. That wasn't the worst part though, the worst part was the way Naomi's hands seemed to follow the same paths as the other woman's, caressing her ass. She watched Naomi smirk, before leaning in and whispering something into the woman's ear, punctuating it with what looked like a playful bite. Emily, accidentally, elbowed some guy in the crotch, glaring at the pair of them.

Sick to her stomach, she watched Naomi drag the woman across the dance floor, heading for the backrooms near where they had entered the club. Emily knew exactly where they were going, knew what was about to happen, but couldn't help herself from following them. It was too easy, really, they never looked back. She watched the woman lead Naomi, watched Naomi look her over with a predatory look on her face. Watched them disappear behind a corner and out the door to the alley. Once again, she caught the door just before it smacked shut, she used her free hand to shield her face with her bag as she exited. Just in case Naomi wasn't as busy as she thought she was.

The moment the door shut behind her and the music all but disappeared, she wished she would have just stayed inside, watching Cook or Effy or someone, anyone. Naomi had the other woman pressed against the wall, she clearly saw the blissful expression on the woman's face. She froze for a moment, transfixed by the scene in front of her. She shook her head, slinking into a shadow, staying close. Now that she had found Naomi, she was not about to let her get away again.

The moans from the other woman rose, Emily refused to look. She remembered the heat from Naomi's body on her own. The way she would whisper in her ear as she drove her higher. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the sounds the woman was making, the desperate pleas for more. Blue eyes swam in front of her, she could practically feel Naomi's hands roaming over her body. Remembered the hitching of Naomi's voice as Emily would thrust into her, the wetness, the heat. She shuddered, eyes opening again.

Naomi was against the wall now, dress hitched up, a leg over the shoulder of the other woman. She couldn't take her eyes off of the look on her face. Naomi was just breathtaking. There was a sharp stab in Emily's chest, a heavy thumping in her ears. She slumped against the wall, sinking down. All of a sudden it all made sense to her, the mood swings she'd had, the guilt whenever she thought of Naomi. She looked back up at them, saw Naomi arch her back and come, her lips moved silently and had Emily not been looking, she would have missed it all together. But since she was watching, she would've sworn that she heard it too.

"Emily…" She didn't know what to make of it, what she should do now. She tucked her knees close to her chest, arms clasping around them.

She closed her eyes again, not caring that Naomi and the woman slipped away. Nothing really mattered, except for one thing. "I'm in love with her?" She whispered, knowing it really wasn't a question any more.

**-C.S-**

* * *

**I forgot to say thanks for all the reviews, they were lovely as always. **


	6. Find you

**A/N: **Hello there! Sorry about the delay, but all I have to say about the matter is end of semester. That should really cover any questions you have about why the slight hiatus. Anyways, time to move things along, yes? Yes.

**Chapter 6: Find you.**

She sipped her coffee, leaning back on the bench. Her eyes graced over trees and people before settling on a person at the end of the path. She calmly took another sip of her coffee, saw the woman she was watching, follow a third person on to the street. She chucked the empty cup into a bin and followed the both of them. It always amazed her how blind people were when they were focussed on something. The woman she followed never looked back, never even looked around, her entire focus on the person in front of her. She grabbed her cell phone, dialling one of the few number programmed in to it, waited for the other person to pick up.

"It's me." She said as soon as she heard the voice answer on the other end. "I was right."

"Are you sure?" She rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to answer, but was beaten to it. "Of course you are… Sorry. What the fuck do we do now?"

"We follow the plan. I don't see what else we can do." She answered. Her head was buzzing with anticipation, she wanted this to be over. "I'm meeting her in about half an hour, you pick up the trail from there. I just need to get a few things after, or I'd do it myself. I'll text you the location." She hung up, not needing an answer, and sent the text a second later.

She didn't bother looking at them for too long, knew where they both were headed already. The only thing that puzzled her was how they had been found in the first place, how Emily had located them. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe someone had sold them out again. The idea of some of the people, her people, betraying them like that… She narrowed her eyes, concentrating on actually getting to where she was headed.

It was impossible to not look at them though. Emily's hair was much darker, but still had a red tint when the sun hit it right. The look on her face was one of pure longing. Effy tilted her head, regarding the situation. There was something about that look that triggered a thought, she grinned suddenly. Emily was in love with Naomi.

She continued to follow them both, but her eyes stayed mainly on Emily. She was different from her sister, not only in looks, any fool could see that, but in the way she moved. Where Katie had an exaggerated swing of her hips, to draw attention to herself, Emily had a more straight forward approach. It wasn't that Emily didn't know how, she had seen her put on a show or two for Naomi's sake, it was more the natural inclination in her. To draw less attention to herself. Or so Effy thought it would have to be. The dynamic between the sisters fascinated her, but she hadn't had much of a chance to study them both together.

Emily stopped suddenly in front of her, head swivelling back and forth as if she was looking for something. Effy stopped in the shadows of a newsstand, quickly assessing the situation. Naomi was obviously gone from sight. It didn't surprise her much though, she was quite convinced that Naomi could disappear in the middle of an empty square, it didn't really matter if she knew she was followed or not. She always seemed to slip away the split second you weren't looking, it was an uncanny ability really, but one Effy admired and wished she had herself. She watched as Emily bawled her hands in to fists, her face getting more and more angry and upset and decided to throw her a bone. She crossed the street, making sure she was in Emily's line of sight and walked past her. She knew Emily would follow, saw her once or twice as she rounded the corners.

The closer she got to where she was supposed to meet Naomi, the more she kept her eyes open for Cook. If this was going to work, she would need him to pick up the trail on Emily. She would ordinarily do it herself, but she supposed Cook was the next best thing. Well, right after actually telling Naomi what the hell was going on. They had been trained by the same woman after all. She spotted him about half a block from where she was meeting Naomi, he gave her a casual nod, before focussing on a spot behind her. She shot him a small grin, knowing he would be able to handle this without any problems. That Naomi would be Emily's priority and when Naomi inevitably slipped away from her, Cook would be there to follow Emily to wherever she would go next.

The small diner was really just a hole in the wall, but it was one of those places you stumbled across and instantly fell in love with. She scanned the place, eyes falling on Naomi, she smirked. Cook texted her before she had even reached the table to let her know that Emily had taken up position outside and that he was watching her.

"Got you a coffee." Naomi told her as she sat down. "But you're late, so I drank it." Naomi grinned at her, Effy just quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm not late, you're early." She countered, grinning back, stealing her cup and taking a sip. "And this is not what I would order…" She said, making a face as the strange taste hit her full force. "What the hell is that? It's not even coffee." Naomi flashed her another grin, this one seemed a bit pained though.

"It's a type of herbal tea." She answered, her eyes strayed into the cup, the smile on her face faltering. "My…" She drew a deep breath. "My mum used to make it. I guess I just felt a bit nostalgic. Silly really."

"You miss her." Effy tilted her head, watching the way Naomi's jaw tightened.

"Yeah, well… I miss a lot of people." Naomi answered bitterly. Effy's gaze drifted from her face and out the window. She couldn't see Emily or Cook, but knew they were both out there. She was silent for a minute, debating whether or not to bring up the twins. She looked back at Naomi, noting the far away look on her face, the slight blush crawling up her neck. It told her everything she needed to know, it told her who was really on her mind at that moment.

"I miss Katie." She offered, deciding to go about this in a more roundabout fashion. It was the truth though, she did miss Katie. She wasn't quite sure what it meant, but that wasn't really important. What was important was to try and figure out what Naomi would do if she met Emily again.

"I don't know how she did it." Naomi sighed, leaning back in her chair, a sad smile on her face as she stared unseeingly out the window. "She just waltzed in, eyes burning and hips swinging, a fucking force of nature." She looked up again, Effy saw the determination, the anger, swirling in her eyes. "Fuck her." She spat. "She won't get to me that easily again." Effy almost believed her, almost. "Enough of that, I've got a list of things I need you to get."

"Deflecting, are we?" Effy smirked, Naomi rolled her eyes and shoved a folded piece of paper towards her. "Fine, I'll play along." She unfolded the paper, glancing down at the things scrabbled there. "This shouldn't be a problem."

"I know, I'd get it myself, but I have a few things I need to take care of." Naomi answered, sipping her tea, Effy raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "I'm going house hunting." Naomi grinned, not explaining further. "And I figured I'd pick up a toy or two for myself." Effy smirked again. "Not that kind of toy, you perv." Naomi checked her watch. "And that reminds me, I need to be on my way if I'm going to catch that train. Make any changes to the list you want, the only things we need to get are the ones that are underlined."

"Let me guess, JJ insisted on specific brands and stuff again?" Effy grinned, Naomi nodded, smiling back. "I'll follow the list, don't worry. I might add a thing or two though."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Naomi asked, looking intrigued.

"A shotgun." Naomi shook her head, a fond smile on her face. "What? I miss my old one…" Effy said innocently.

"Of course you do." Naomi countered. "Be careful, you hear? If anything or anyone looks dodgy, you call someone." It was at that moment that it finally dawned on Effy that she was considered family by Naomi. She had heard the same speech, or a variation of it, directed at Cook at numerous times before. Naomi squeezed her shoulder as she walked past her and out the door. A small genuine smile crawled up Effy's face.

**-C.S-**

15 minutes alone and she was bored. Maybe it was some sort of new record, she pondered. There was nothing for her to do, nothing. She sighed, shuffling around on the couch, trying to get comfortable. Her mind just wouldn't settle down, couldn't focus on the inane TV show in with it's fake laughter and stupid actors, playing in the background. She picked up a magazine, flipping through it, eyes not focussing on the words or pictures. She sighed again, throwing the damn thing on the floor. She wondered briefly if she should go out, do something, anything, but she had been told to stay put. She sneered, face twisting into contempt, staring at the door.

"Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?" She growled at it, sitting up. "You can't order me around, just because you've completely lost your mind in the last few weeks…" She trailed off, her rant loosing steam. There was no point, no one there to hear it anyways. She sunk down on the couch again, throwing an arm over her eyes. The doorbell rang suddenly, her eyes flew to the door again. She smirked, getting off the couch.

"Did you forget your keys again?" She shouted loud enough for it to carry through the door. "What did you forget this time? Besides your keys, obviously." She looked around the apartment, trying to spot whatever it could be. "Your phone or something?" She pulled the door open, grin still in place, it slid right off the moment she saw who it was.

"Or something." A smooth voice answered. Her mouth opened soundlessly, she just couldn't get any sound out. "Not going to invite me in? That's ok, I'm not sure I would either."

"Ehh… Wha… I mean… How?" She managed to croak out, eyes darting around the hallway, looking for more people.

"I don't think you want to have this conversation out here." Her eyes snapped back to the one speaking, noting the silent challenge on her face, the faint trace of amusement. She sighed and stepped back silently, motioning for the other to come in. "I like what you've done with the place. Oh, and by the way… I suggest you use that peephole the next time the doorbell goes off, you just never know who's on the other side." She balled her hands into fists, infuriated with the calmness of the other, her own insides were boiling. There was so many questions in her head that she just couldn't find one to actually ask, she settled for a glare instead as she tried to make sense of her jumbled thoughts.

"Fuck you." She managed to get out, too late for it to really have an effect.

"Been there, done that." The leering look up and down her body made her shiver, she hoped it wasn't noticeable. She closed her eyes, counting to ten in her head, exhaling slowly before opening them again. "Still affecting you that bad, am I?" The words cut through her. "Go me!"

"What the fuck do you want, Effy?" She mumbled, not meeting the other's eyes.

"Well, Katie." The emphasis on her name was obvious, like she was making a point. Katie wasn't sure what it meant. "I'm here because Emily has been stalking Naomi for the past week or so, and I want to know why." The information stunned her, Emily had never mentioned that she had found Naomi. Her face must have given it away, because she heard Effy mumble to herself. "You didn't know." It seemed like the icy facade slipped a little.

"She's been… Different. Not talking to me." Katie chewed her lip, feeling like she was betraying her sister. She couldn't look in Effy's eyes. "She hasn't really said much besides 'pass the salt' in a week. Should've known something was up."

"She seems to be handling it slightly different then Naomi." Effy remarked, Katie looked up at her, surprised at the slight smirk and faraway look on her face.

"Why? What's Naomi doing? And what do you mean 'handling it'? Sounds like they have some sort of terminal disease the way you're talking about it."

"I think Emily found out that she's in love with Naomi and Naomi is handling her feelings by trying to drink and fuck it all away, or generally just distracting herself from the way she feels about Emily." Effy replied, Katie couldn't help noticing the way her mouth moved, the sound of her voice sent shivers down her back. Specially the words 'fuck' and 'love' stood out at her. Effy's eyes seemed to draw her in, twinkling with amusement over the situation. She almost missed the intended implications all together.

"Wait… Are you saying that they both love each other?" She exclaimed, trying to understand what Effy really was trying to tell her.

"Yes." Effy simply answered.

"But… I could have sworn Emily didn't… She doesn't really…" She couldn't find any words to refute the claim, but it all made perfect sense. A thought hit her. "She saw Naomi trying to get her out of her head, didn't she. The drinking and… umm… fucking part?" She was staring right into Effy's eyes when she said it, saw the slight darkening of her eyes.

"That's my theory." Effy smirked, Katie really did love that smirk. She sat down heavily on the couch.

"Well… That's just great, isn't it?" She said sarcastically "And why are you here again?" The tension in the room shifted in an instant. Effy stiffened, her eyes growing harder, like she just remembered what she was really doing here. Katie held back a sigh of regret, knowing that Effy could read her like an open book if she wanted to. Effy had always startled her with the way she just seemed to know things about everyone else.

"I'm here to figure out why the two of you are here." Effy looked pointedly at her. "And don't give me some cock and bull story about holidays or other crap. I made a mistake with you two in London, I won't be doing it here." Effy's voice held a slight edge.

"You want to know why we're here?" Katie sighed, out loud this time, as Effy gave her a nod. "Fine, might as well just tell you… How much did JJ find out about us?" She asked, eyes turned straight ahead. She really didn't think she could stand looking at Effy for longer periods of time, it made her thoughts go in all sorts of directions she really didn't want them to go in. Well, more like couldn't afford them to go in, this situation required a clear head.

"Emily and Katie, daughters of Rob and Jenna Fitch." Effy started, her voice in a monotone like she was reciting something for some sort of school project. Katie struggled with keeping her eyes from widening, no one knew about her parents, no one. "Have gone by multiple aliases, but always keeping your first names. Rob died when you were 4, left you girls and Jenna behind. Jenna was pregnant with a boy, James." Katie closed her eyes, cursing under her breath, she thought Emily had taken care of those records, she said she had. "We're not quite sure what happened to make the two of you run out on Jenna…"

"What do you mean 'we'? Does everyone in your little band of freaks know this?" Katie interjected, a little too harshly. Effy just chuckled, infuriating her that much more.

"JJ came up with a few of those things." Effy smirked. "But I had him dig a little deeper. None of the others know. Care to fill me in on the rest of the story?" Katie sighed, rubbing her temples. Effy's demeanour seemed to shift, morph into compassion Katie couldn't help but to feel drawn in. A tiny voice in her head was screaming for her to get away, she shut it down. "Hey…" Effy put a hand on her thigh, it felt heavier then it should. "You don't have to tell me, I'm just asking for an explanation on why you're here." The truth was that she wanted to tell Effy, she wanted Effy to know. The hand Effy had placed on her, felt right, comforting. She took a deep breath.

"One is linked to the other." Effy removed the hand on her thigh, Katie wished she would've kept it there. The voice in her head tried to interfere again, but Katie was beyond caring. "Mum… Mum wasn't the easiest person to live with. She was horrible when she was drunk, angry, bitter, blaming us for everything. One night, when we were about 15 and James was 10, almost 11, she got worse then usual. She…" Katie closed her eyes, trying to gather the thoughts in her head. "Well, the short version is that she snapped and almost killed Emily. See, James had hidden her bottles, trying to get her to stop drinking. She beat him, Emily couldn't take it anymore and stepped between them. One thing led to another and suddenly she had a knife to Emily's throat, James was screaming for mum to stop, but she just knocked him out of the way. I was hiding under the kitchen table like a coward, but seeing mum doing that to James… Something snapped in me and I grabbed the nearest thing I could get my hands on and hit mum over the head." She smiled sadly at the memory. "Did you know that people don't go down when you do that, like they do in the movies? It just made her madder, I turned and ran out the back and Emily got James and ran out the other way. That was the last time we saw our mum." She trailed off, staring at a point ahead, images rushing through her head.

"What does this have to do with…" Effy sounded a bit confused.

"Whoever sent us after you guys, is threatening James." Katie interrupted, wanting to get it all out in the open. "Mum died about a year later, they were going to take him away from us. We made him disappear, or thought we did. We found some guy who knew someone, got him to alter our birth certificates, suddenly we were 18 and legal and James didn't exist at all. So that made us the sole heirs of all of 10 quid and a banged up couch. We did whatever we had to, to get money and a roof over our head, but our priority was always on James. To make him feel safe. He never knew some of the things we did to feed him, send him to school and all that. We would do anything for him."

"It can't have been easy." Effy offered, but Katie couldn't look at her, knew that the look of sympathy that was probably plastered all over Effy's face would only make her angry.

"We were done with you guys, we really were." Katie continued, ignoring Effy. "But we got a mail… There were pictures of James in it, and it told us to find Naomi. We had no choice. We tossed around the idea of trying to double-cross whoever it was, but we didn't know how to approach you guys. The stunt Emily pulled… Well, let's just say we knew you guys would be hesitant to help, or you know, would kill us on sight."

"Kill is a bit harsh, maim probably…" Effy grinned at her, Katie didn't grin back. "Look.." Effy continued, her face serious again. "I'm not saying we can just forgive and forget here, but maybe if we broke it to Naomi gently and she didn't mind, we could come up with a plan that would benefit everyone involved."

"And you see this happening?" Katie asked, already halfway knowing the answer.

"Well…" Effy tilted her head, obviously taking a moment to think it through. "No, not really… But we could try."

**-C.S-**

She sat with her back to the rest of the room, carefully sipping the drink in front of her. The small compact mirror in front of her, ensured that no one would sneak up on her unannounced. She traced a finger around the rim of the glass, waiting. The pub was mostly empty, just a guy snoring in the corner, dead drunk, and the bartender who was more occupied with the TV then his lack of customers. The atmosphere suited her, gave her space to think. She was so lost in her own head that she almost didn't notice the person sliding onto the barstool next to her. She drank the rest of her drink and turned to face the newcomer.

"Hey you!" The other directed at the bartender, easily catching his attention. "Another round over here." A hand was waved in the general direction of her empty glass, the bartender quickly complied, topping off the glass and putting another one down next to it. "Thanks." He grinned. "That'll be all." The other dismissed the bartender with the wave of a hand, he shrugged and went back to watching the TV.

"You got here fast." She said sarcastically.

"The bloody trains stopped again, I think it's a sign that I should get a motorcycle too." The other grinned, taking a sip of her drink. "Vodka?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Old habit." She shrugged. "How'd it go?"

"You know how it went, you heard every word." The other answered easily, indicating to the earpiece still in her ear. "Why don't you ask what you really want to know." The other grinned knowingly, she grimaced at the question. "Come on, Naomi, spit it out."

"Fine…" She rolled her eyes. "Do you think she told you the truth?" She had spent the last few hours thinking through the situation, looking for flaws in their plan, she couldn't find any, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

"I think she left some things out, but yeah, I think it's true." Effy answered.

"Why would she just come out and tell you though?" It was the one thing Naomi couldn't get her head around.

"Not everyone is as tight-lipped as you. It took you what, a knife wound and 3 years, before you told me anything remotely personal?" Naomi scowled slightly and opened her mouth to say something, Effy cut her off. "Don't look at me like that, you know it's true."

"Oh please, like you were all forthcoming with your own story? For all we knew, you staged that attack to get an in with us." Naomi shot back.

"Ah yes, getting stabbed in the arm and having to sow up the gash he left on yours with one hand, was clearly a way to get to you and Cook." Effy smirked, mirth twinkling in her eyes. "All part of my master plan! Damn, you caught me."

"I knew it!" Naomi grinned back, nudging Effy's shoulder before growing serious again. "Seriously though, how did you get her to tell you?"

"Simple. She wanted to tell me." Effy shrugged, Naomi rolled her eyes. "Fine… You want to know how? Here's how… Katie has always been lonely, don't ask me how I know, I just do. She wants someone to see her for her and not as a part of the whole twin deal. I was there, I listened and she was dying to tell someone, anyone, about it."

"Right, so when you told her about Emily following me around…" Naomi followed up with, touching on the subject she wanted to simultaneously know more about and not know anything about at all.

"That was the catalyst to it all. I told her something about you and Emily she didn't know and she felt like she was a part of something. Like I said, easy." Effy shrugged again. Naomi couldn't help noticing that she looked a bit uncomfortable, the conversation she had overheard a few hours earlier, flashed through her mind again.

"The suggestion that Emily feels something for me… It almost sounded believable." She looked into her glass again, picking it up, swirling the content around.

"People hear what they want to hear." Effy answered. Naomi looked up at her, but couldn't read the look on her face. She wondered what her own face looked like, because the unreadable look was soon replaced by one filled with sympathy.

"I guess they do." She mumbled, finally lifting the glass and downing the content in one. The liquor burned it's way down her throat and she shuddered lightly. Effy reached out and covered her hand with her own.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked. Naomi smiled at her, she hoped it looked somewhat real.

"No… No, I'm not." She sighed. "But if we're ever going to figure out who's following us around, this is our best bet. Hell, it might be our only bet."

"But… How can you even be sure that she's out there?" Effy indicated towards the window.

"I led her here. She's been making sure I'm still here every half an hour or so." Effy looked at her, confusion in her eyes. "Haven't your mother ever told you never to go anywhere without a decent mirror?" She picked up the tiny compact mirror in front of her, shoving it into a pocket. "It's the closest thing to eyes at the back of your neck." Naomi smirked.

"You would know…" Effy simply answered, letting the rest of the statement hang in the air. Naomi knew what she meant though, knew she might come across as a bit paranoid at times. "Anyways, let's get this show on the road. You ready?"

"No time like the present." She said confidently, authority creeping into her voice. She almost believed it herself, despite the slight twisting in her gut.

**-C.S-**

Emily stared at the pub across the street, she had lost track of how long she had stood there. Every once in a while, she would make her way over to the grimy window and look in, just making sure that Naomi hadn't slipped out the back or something. The small glimpses wasn't enough anymore, she wanted to walk through the doors, slide her hands up Naomi's back. Wanted to see those eyes darken, to know that Naomi still wanted her as much as she had three months ago. She wished for a way to turn the time back, some way to have it all make sense, there wasn't one though. She sighed, shoving her hand through her hair, before cautiously making her way across the street again.

The spot where Naomi and Effy had sat at the bar was empty, she cursed under her breath. She burst into the dark pub, eyes darting around, making sure that Naomi was nowhere to be found. She wasn't sure when they had disappeared, but the glasses was still there, not yet cleared away. The bartender looked up at her briefly, but directed his attention back to the TV fairly quickly.

"Oi!" She said, voice a little to loud, she didn't really care as long as it got the bartender's attention. "Is there a back door?" She tried keeping the desperation out of her voice, the sense of urgency. He looked back at her, shrugged and indicated to the door at the side of the bar. She didn't even bother thanking him, already on her way out.

The door led out into a dimly lit alleyway. She stood there for a heartbeat or two, looking around, before rushing towards the street she could see up ahead. Her head whipped around, frantically searching for some sort of sign of where they might have gone. She hesitated for a brief second before going left, back towards where she had seen Naomi park her motorcycle. She cursed herself for not remembering it sooner, for not checking if that was gone too.

The first time she had seen Naomi on that motorcycle, she had been stunned. Caught between feeling annoyed that it would be that much harder to follow her around and pure arousal at the sight. She had looked so comfortable on it, like it was almost a part of her, it had made Emily wonder when she had learned to drive it. Naomi had never mentioned ever owning a bike, but there was no mistaking the grace of her movements on it, the way she had leaned into the corner as she had disappeared from sight. Obviously, it was something she had done before. The next day, Emily had stolen a motorcycle and followed her through the streets.

She ran silently down a side street, slowing down as she reached the corner. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest and she all but hold her breath as she turned the corner. Her eyes scanned the area, but came up empty. The bike was gone.

"Fuck!" She exclaimed loudly, not caring who heard her. "Cunting bitch-slapping hell!" She kicked over a trashcan. She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly, trying to calm herself down. She didn't know why it was so important to her to keep following Naomi, to know where she was at all hours of the day. Emily turned, making her way towards her own bike. Or rather, her bike of the day. She'd been stealing a new one every day, trying to keep Naomi from discovering her. Thankfully, people were rather stupid, leaving their helmets with their bikes, making it so much easier.

Places rushed through her head as she tried guessing where Naomi would have gone. She could try the apartment where the entire gang seemed to live, she'd seen all of them come and go from it at least. The gallery both Cook and Naomi seemed to spend a lot of time studying was another option. Then there was one of the houses or apartments Naomi had toured a couple of days ago. She got to the spot she had left the bike in, still mulling over her options. It took her a second to realise that the bike was gone, she spun around, frowning. This was the place where she had left it, she was sure of it. She sighed, the irony of it being stolen, wasn't lost on her. Resigning herself to the fact that she had to walk home, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and started walking.

A hand was suddenly clapped over her mouth and she was dragged backwards into an alley. She struggled, but the hold was too strong. She could feel herself starting to panic, the edges of her sight becoming slightly fuzzy. The hands suddenly let go, shoving her into a wall. Before she could scream, she heard a low, familiar chuckle.

"For someone making their living out of following other people, you're surprisingly easy to catch off guard." That voice! Her head whipped around, eyes meeting a pair of clear blue eyes.

"Naomi?" She asked, not quite believing her own eyes. Relief flooded her,

"Hello Emily. Fancy meeting you here." The smile on Naomi's face was cold. "I think we need to have a little chat about following people around, don't you?" Emily shivered from the utter lack of emotions in Naomi's voice.

**-C.S-**

* * *

**Thank you Es for reading through parts of this, as you can see I listened to some of what you said and ignored the rest :P**

**Right, I think this might be a cliffhanger... Just be happy I didn't do what I had planned to do, that just wouldn't have been pretty... *grins* If you guys found mistakes, I blame it on it being bloody early and that I should've waited until I'd slept to post. Oh well... **


	7. Bad idea

**A/N:** This chapter contains something I intended to do earlier, but it didn't really fit until now. So without much more fuzz, here's chapter 7. I'd say enjoy, but...

**Chapter 7: Bad idea**

"There's too much blood, I can't stop it!" Naomi frantically tried pressing her hands over the wound, tried keeping pressure. "Jesus! It just keeps coming!" The blood was sticky, warm on her hands, soaking through the makeshift bandage she had pressed to it. "Stay with me! Don't you dare close your eyes, you hear!" The car hit a bump, jarring free a moan through clenched teeth. "I know, I know…" She tried desperately to soothe the pain away, but only succeeded in smearing blood all over cheeks as she wiped at the tears.

"Use both hands! Keep the bloody pressure on!" Effy huffed, rooting through a bag, looking up briefly.

"I don't know what to do! I don't know how! Effy… I need help!" Naomi shifted her hands again, pressing down.

"Cook! Move this piece of junk faster, for fucks sake, just step on it!" Effy yelled in response. "You, just… Keep the goddamn pressure up!" She snapped at Naomi. The other people in the van were silent, the gravity of the situation weighing on them.

"I'm going as fast as I can." Cook growled from up front. Effy kneeled in front of Naomi, clutching fresh bandages in her hands.

"Naomi… I don't know how much I can do. I never got far enough in my training, I can sow up some gashes, set some bones, but this…" She indicated the gaping hole in a stomach. "We need to get to a hospital." Naomi looked up at her, saw the genuine fear in her eyes and pressed down on the wound harder.

"Then we will go to a bloody hospital." She snapped. "You hear that Cook? Get us to a fucking hospital!" She shouted. She felt a hand being laid gently on her shoulder, but shrugged it off. "Back the fuck off." She hissed through clenched teeth, the hand disappeared. She looked back at Effy. "Just do something! Anything!"

"Move your hands on three." Effy answered, sounding eerily calm. " We need to keep the pressure as long as possible." She was unwrapping the bandages as she spoke, hands working on their own. "You ready?" Her eyes were piercing, Naomi couldn't manage to get the words out to reply, but somehow Effy knew what she wasn't saying. "One… Two… Three!" The transition wasn't smooth, but it was successful. Naomi slumped back against the wall, watching Effy practically stuff the wound full of the bandages in her hands.

The sound of blood squelching seemed to be too loud over the sound of the car, it was a sickening sort of a noise. It made her want to throw up, want to hide her face in her hands. Her blood soaked hands, she realised, looking down at them. It was already starting to dry and flake, she rubbed her palms absentmindedly on her pants. A wet cough made her look up, forced her attention to the redness spilling suddenly out of a mouth. She closed her eyes, trying to block it all out, but couldn't block out the sounds. She felt tears leak out of her eyes as the raspy breathing became shallower, as she listened to the struggle for air. She couldn't help blaming herself for it all.

"I fucked up… I should've listened." She mumbled, tilting her head back. "Jesus Christ, I really fucked up." She heard one last rattling breath and then there was silence. She looked up again, meeting Effy's eyes, seeing the almost non-existent shake of her head. It wasn't long before the silence was replaced by a wailing sob, the sound made Naomi feel numb all over.

**-C.S-**

_**72 hours earlier:**_

The mask of indifference was getting harder and harder to keep up. Emily had a way of crawling under her skin, she had almost forgotten the intoxicating feeling, but it rushed back in the longer she had her hands on her. The way Emily was looking at her, didn't help. She drew a relieved breath as she shoved Emily into the back of the car Cook was driving and shut the door on her. She banged the hood, signalling that he should drive. The car pulled away smoothly, Emily's face turning to look at her through the rear window. She couldn't bring herself to look away, not until the car disappeared around a corner. She drew her jacket tighter around herself and turned on her heel, walking back to where she had stashed her bike.

"All sorted?" Effy asked softly, pushing off the wall, handing Naomi a helmet. She took it without looking up.

"Yeah, everything is fine. She got picked up by Cook, Thommo is in the car with them. There shouldn't be any trouble." Even to her own ears it sounded a bit wrong, a bit too defeated. She knew Effy would pick up on it. "Don't." She said softly, just as Effy opened her mouth. "Let's just go, I promised we'd get there ahead of them." Thankfully, Effy stayed silent, only tilted her head a little and seemed to be studying her instead. Naomi shook it off, swung a leg over her bike and raised an eyebrow at the other woman.

"Is this the part where you tell me to hold on tight and it'll be the ride of my life?" The slight smirk and teasing tone, made Naomi smile slightly back at her. Effy was always good at knowing when to leave certain subjects alone, then again, she also knew when to push for more information.

"It would be, but I don't go for Cook's sloppy seconds." Naomi shot back, allowing her smile to become just a fraction wider, just to make it clear she was joking. She was sure Effy would've taken it as a joke without it, but it felt like the right thing to do.

"One time…" Effy huffed as she climbed onto the bike herself. "If I'd known you'd coming along, I wouldn't have gone near him." Naomi actually believed that statement, probably because Effy had shamelessly propositioned her about 2 minutes after meeting her.

"Just shut up and put your helmet on." Naomi grinned at her, before following her own instructions.

"Whatever you say, Naomi." Effy purred behind her, deliberately sliding her hands a little too slow around her waist. Naomi rolled her eyes, Effy slapped a hand against her stomach. "And stop rolling your eyes. Just because I can't see it, doesn't mean I don't know you're doing it." Naomi actually chuckled at that, shaking her head slightly as she started the bike.

The drive gave her time to think, maybe too much time. Her mind was constantly replaying the words Emily had said to her, the words she had refused to believe in when they came from Effy. She hadn't known what to reply, what to say, so she'd brushed them off. It had to be some kind of trick, she decided, but the more she thought about it, the more it confused her. Why turn up after so many days, weeks, months and tell someone you loved them? Someone you had basically stabbed in the back? Naomi couldn't make sense of it, didn't know what to believe.

She forced the thoughts to the back of her mind, knowing they wouldn't stay there forever, but that it would have to do for now. The bike helped with that, helped her lose herself. She focused of the fluid motion, the rumbling engine, the speed. It hadn't always been like that, she could still remember the first time she was put on a motorcycle. She'd been 13 and had wiped out more times then she liked to admit. She'd never given up though, for 3 weeks she had lived and breathed motorcycles. Learned how to ride them, how to fix them and how to steal them. She'd kept at it until she'd mastered the bike, until she got it right.

Of course, it hadn't just been motorcycles. The same lessons had been applied to all kinds of vehicles, cars, trucks, busses and even boats. She knew how an engine worked, knew how to start them all with just a penknife, or even a hairclip, if necessary. She was even quite good at it. Cook was faster when it came to stealing them, but she could fix the engines, find the problems, easier then he could. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he actually went to school every now and then when they were growing up, Naomi hadn't. Her mother had explained it away, but she knew now that it was to keep her from being discovered. Her mother had taught her everything she needed though, to read and write when she was 4, to be kind, to do what needed to be done. Cook had very much been a part of the family, but he wasn't legally theirs, even if they considered him to be, so he had to go to school.

A small tap on her stomach, drew her out of her head, back to reality. She blinked, realising they had nearly reached the apartment she had set up. She was suddenly extremely grateful that it was Effy that was sitting on the back of her bike and no one else. Effy knew more then she let on, but she also respected the boundaries that Naomi had erected around herself. She actually smiled as she pulled into the underground parking, despite knowing that once Cook arrived with Emily, all hell would break loose.

"You ready for this?" She murmured as she got of the bike, hanging her helmet on one of the handlebars. She shoved a hand through her hair and turned to look at Effy.

"This is going to be bad, isn't it?" Effy grimaced.

"Considering Emily has no idea Katie is here, and of her own free will none the less?" Naomi shook her head. "Good thing the apartment is soundproofed, is all I have to say…"

"Yeah, about that… How did you know we were going to need a new place? You started looking before I even told you about Emily and Katie." Effy followed her through a door leading to the elevators. Naomi contemplated her answer for a moment.

"We were going to need options." She answered, not sure how to really voice the need to have all her bases covered. "And there was this itch between my shoulder blades. Like someone was watching me without me knowing." She added, bumping Effy's shoulder slightly with a small grin.

"I wanted to make sure." Effy simply stated, falling silent as the elevator doors opened onto their floor. Naomi had rented both apartments on it, making JJ able to put security measures in place, no one going in or out would get past them. They might have taken some liberties in placing cameras around the entrances to the building and in the elevators and stairwells too, so it was no surprise that Panda was already out in the hall, holding the door open for them. Naomi slammed her walls back up, her professional demeanour. Someone had to be the leader, it might as well be her.

"Katie?" Naomi questioned, striding past her.

"In the other apartment, we've been watching the monitors, she's still in there." Panda answered. Naomi nodded, moving over to JJ and the myriad of screens in front of him. She locked eyes with Effy, noting the way she seemed to have trouble knowing where to put her hands.

"Why don't you go get her, Eff, make sure she's here when they arrive." Effy smiled slightly, inclining her head as if to say that she had read her right, before disappearing out the same door they had just walked through. Effy's strange attachment to Katie hadn't gone unnoticed by Naomi, but she was unsure if it was more then a sense of companionship or if there were real feelings on both sides involved. She shook the thought off and turned her focus on JJ and Panda. "Where's Cook now?" She asked softly, looking at the screens.

"He should be turning on to our street right now, so I'm estimating he's about 3 minutes away." JJ answered absentmindedly, his hand indicating a screen to his right. Naomi could see the small dot, labelled with the number 2, moving on it. Another dot, with the number 4, was right beside the first one. She watched JJ's hands fly over the keyboard, switching off the ones that were her and Effy's. He was instructed only to switch on the trackers when she said so and didn't really have any issues with him having complete control over the system. Sure, her and Cook knew how to operate it, but they left it to JJ. The only thing she had insisted on was a small switch on their devices, a way to ensure that it couldn't be switched on without it being first turned on, manually, by whoever was wearing it. She trusted JJ, but there were limits to her trust.

"…don't understand why I couldn't have stayed in the other apartment, that's all." She heard behind her as the door opened. She turned, watching Katie follow Effy in to the apartment.

"Because I want you here when Emily gets here." Naomi answered before Effy could open her mouth, folding her arms over her chest. "So I suggest you take a seat and have a drink, she'll be here any minute now."

"Actually…" JJ supplied. "They're at the elevators now."

"That's just bloody brilliant! You do know she's probably gonna kill me, right?" Katie huffed, basically throwing herself onto the couch. Naomi found the display a bit melodramatic, but she kept her mouth shut. She did look at Effy though, and noted the look of amused fondness on her face. The look only lasted a moment, Effy's face was soon back to revealing nothing. Naomi still raised a questioning eyebrow at her though, but Effy just minutely shook her head in return. Naomi let it slide, for now.

"Which is why you're in here." Naomi answered. "We could have left you in the other apartment and just sent Emily in to you, but we thought this was the… safer option."

"You would've made me come here regardless." Katie mumbled, as if the thought just occurred to her.

"Probably." Naomi answered truthfully. "It would have depended on what Emily did, what she decided."

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Katie answered, throwing her hands in the air, huffing. The door opened suddenly, just as Katie sank back into the couch.

"Blondie!" Cook roared. "I come bearing the rest of the set." He grinned wolfishly at them all, practically dragging Emily in the door after him. Thomas followed silently. Naomi felt a stab in her chest as she tried her best to not look at Emily, struggling to close herself off again. To look like she didn't really give a shit.

"Excellent." She replied, forcing herself to look at Emily's stunned face. "Looks like we can begin."

**-C.S-**

_**36 hours earlier:**_

The tension was so thick that it was almost like a living, breathing entity. One that seemed to swallow them all whole. To say that they all were walking on eggshells, waiting for the next explosion, would be an understatement. If it had been just one side against another, it would've been more bearable, but the group seemed to have splintered completely. Cook was trying to talk Naomi out of it, while Naomi couldn't be in the same room as Emily for longer periods of time. Emily couldn't stand her sister, Katie clung to Effy and Effy… Panda wasn't sure what Effy felt about it all. The only ones that seemed to still stick together, was her, JJ and Thommo.

She watched Naomi slip out the door, probably heading for the roof. She shifted her focus to Emily. It took her exactly 5 seconds to notice Naomi wasn't in the room any more, another 5 before she started really fidgeting. Panda stayed for another minute or so, the silence was deafening, before the stifling room became too much and slipped out after Naomi. She didn't bother waiting for the elevators, but headed straight for the stairs.

Panda understood perfectly Naomi's need to get some time alone, and normally she wouldn't even have thought of bothering her, but the situation was getting rather ridiculous. She wasn't sure how to start the conversation, figuring that she'd wing it. She took a deep breath when she reached the door, grateful that the apartments were almost at the top of the building to begin with, and pushed it open. She spotted Naomi at once, her eyes closed as she sat with her back leaning against a wall.

"Wow. I see why you come up here." Panda sighed as she peered over the side of the building. The view was spectacular and the air seemed less polluted. "It's very… peaceful."

"Anything is peaceful after last night." Naomi smiled feebly at her, closing her eyes again, leaning her head back.

"About last night… Are you sure about this? There has to be another way around it." Panda tried to reason. She wasn't sure what the hell was going on to be honest, but this seemed like the perfect time to try getting some clarity. Naomi sighed, obviously looking for where to begin.

"The first time me and Cook broke in to a house on our own, we were 17 and 18. We had no idea what we were doing." Panda wondered what this had to do with anything, but held her tongue, interested in where this was going. "The break in was easy, but we found something we didn't really intend to find. We'd researched him, of course, but besides the fact that he got his money from less then legal means, we didn't know much about him. Things were going well, we got what we came for and were on our way out. And then we stumbled over her…"

"Her?" Panda interjected.

"Yeah. A girl. She can't have been more then 12, locked in a cage in a room. She became hysterical when she saw Cook. There was bruises all over her… We had no idea what to do." Naomi smiled sadly. "We finally decided to call the police, you know, anonymously, and then we ran. We didn't go far though, stayed around, watched the place. They arrested him for kidnapping, rape and child pornography the same night. That was the game changer, it changed the way we planned our jobs. I suddenly understood why my parents chose the break ins they did."

"I don't understand…"

"Panda, did you ever question why we were going after that gallery?" Why it absolutely have to be in about…" Naomi glanced at her watch. "Oh… 34 hours or so?" She looked up, her eyes meeting Panda's.

"I never really thought about it. I just figured we were waiting for a specific piece of art or something." She saw Naomi's eyes burning in to her own. "But it's something else, isn't it?" Naomi looked away again.

"He sells guns, and that would be fine if it was all legit, but it's not. Besides, we might have gotten wind of some of his other… activities." Naomi fished out her cigarettes from a pocket, lighting one as she talked. "Trust me Panda, you really don't want to know." She stated, looking at her pointedly.

"Fine, but even if it has to be done tomorrow night… Why are we bringing Emily and Katie? Emily seems like she wants to come, but Katie… She just seems reluctant to it all." She asked, Naomi was staring off again, slowly exhaling a stream of smoke.

"I had to pick them up when I did. Effy told me they'd probably been following me, us, for about a week and a half. I couldn't risk them contacting whoever it is that's hired them. We've worked too hard to let it all go down the drain now." Naomi shrugged slightly. "The most obvious solution was to bring them along."

"I just don't see it working, Naomi."

"It's easy, we split the twins on the two original teams" The statement peaked Panda's interest again. She wondered why Naomi didn't want to keep an eye on them both, but figured it was because she really did trust Cook. Besides, it did make sense to split them up, for safety reasons.

"Oh?"

"I planned on going over all of this later, but I might as well tell you now. It will all work as before, you, Cook and Effy, now with Katie, go for the art and me, Thommo and Emily, go for the safe." Naomi answered.

"But… Are we going to arm them?" She frowned. "I mean, is that wise?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll go over it with Cook later." Naomi waved a hand, making it clear that the subject wasn't up for discussion. "Right…" Panda watched her draw in a deep breath, throw her cigarette away and stand up straight. "Better get back to it. Did you want to know more before we go back down?" Panda heard the hopeful note in her voice, but couldn't really think of anything. She knew Naomi was just trying to delay the inevitable.

"No… I don't think there's anything else." She answered, knowing that Naomi would insist on walking through what they were supposed to do at least a few more times before they were going.

**-C.S-**

_**1 hour earlier:**_

He loved this, he really did. The adrenaline pumping, the way his eyes became accustomed to the dark, the sense of excitement in the air. He knew she would never admit it, but he could see it in her eyes none the less, Naomi loved it too. Emily was unreadable though, staying close to the shadows, her eyes darting around like she was expecting trouble any second. The only thing she seemed to focus on for more then just a moment, was Naomi's back. Naomi, on the other hand, had her entire focus on the safe in front of her.

"I really don't like this, didn't you say there was going to be guards? Where the fuck are they?" Emily hissed in his direction, careful to keep her voice down so she wouldn't disturb Naomi. "We've seen one on our way up here, one! Something's wrong."

"Maybe we overestimated." He answered calmly, but he couldn't help agreeing with her, something wasn't quite right. He glanced back at Naomi, saw her lips move soundlessly under her balaclava as she worked. He wondered briefly if hers was as itchy as his and as hot.

"You staked this place out for, what? 4 months?" He didn't have to see Emily's face to know that she was rolling her eyes. "Bullshit, something is not right here." She was still trying to keep her voice down, but it rose slightly towards the end. He cast another glance at Naomi, she was seemingly in her own little world, completely focussed on the safe.

"Look…" He took a step towards her, still keeping his eyes on their surroundings. "JJ is watching out for us. See that camera over there?" He pointed at one of the security cameras. "Who do you think is controlling those right now? I can promise you it's not the security guards." He flashed her a smile, knowing that the only thing she could really see, was his eyes and his mouth.

"If everything is so safe and no one is around… Why the hell are we out here watching an empty corridor?" He didn't really have an answer for her.

"You're watching the corridor, because I said so." Naomi growled from over by the safe. "And would the two of you just shut the hell up for a sec? I'm trying to fucking concentrate over here." Emily opened her mouth to answer, but he grabbed her arm briefly, shaking his head. He knew Naomi and he knew she didn't ask so she could get an answer. "Thank you." Naomi huffed, proving him right. "Now keep your fucking eyes peeled, your mouths shut and let me work." He grinned at Emily, who just shook her head a little.

The next 10 minutes passed in silence, the tension was almost palpable though. Emily was fidgeting next to him, making him restless too. He finally heard Naomi exclaim in triumph and the sound of the safe opening. Emily seemed to sag with relief, relaxing against the doorframe. He looked over at Naomi who was rooting through the safe, obviously looking for something. He saw her stuff what looked like a portable hard drive into a backpack, she looked up at him, a smile on her lips. He smiled back, before, once again, letting his eyes search through the dark corridor. He could practically feel his ears perking up, trying to listen for footsteps, all he could hear was the sounds of Naomi filling the backpacks and Emily shuffling next to him.

"Thommo? Find out where Cook and the rest are, tell them to get a move on if they haven't already finished on their end." Naomi asked him. "Tell him to come back up here and lend us a hand, if they are." She must have sensed the tension, he decided, cause she could just as easily have done it herself.

"Just Cook? None of the others?" He asked, making sure he had understood her correctly.

"Yeah, no sense in them all coming up here. I'm guessing it's only another bags worth anyways." She answered, he glanced over his shoulder at her again, saw that she was filling another backpack. By the look of it, this was the third.

"Number 2, this is number 4." He fought the urge to roll his eyes as he said it. JJ had come up with the numbers, but it was Naomi that decided that when they were on a job, they might as well use them to communicate. "If you're done down there, number 1 wants you to come up here and lend us a hand."

"Just me?" The answer came almost at once.

"Yeah, we just need someone to carry a pack." He murmured again. "If you're done, that is. If not, I'm sure we'll manage."

"We're done. I'll be there in a few." Cook sounded serious for once. "By the way, is it too fucking quiet on your end too?"

"Like a tomb." Thomas answered, he could feel Emily's eyes burning into the back of his skull. "I don't like it. None of us do."

"Same here, mate. Same here." Cook was silent for a moment. "Anyways, I'm on my way." His voice held a forced cheerfulness. Thomas didn't answer him, but turned back towards the others instead.

"Cook's on his way, he should be here in a few." He told Naomi. "It was the same down there." He didn't need to elaborate, she knew what he was talking about.

"Let's just wrap this up, ok? As soon as possible." She turned to look at Emily, holding a backpack out to her. "You take this. If it's too heavy and you need to run, drop it. You understand?" He didn't need to see Emily's face to know she was grimacing.

"I can manage." Emily hissed back, taking a few steps forward, snatching the backpack almost violently from Naomi. "I'm stronger then I look, remember?" There was a slight suggestive tone to her last statement. Thomas turned his head to the corridor again, not really wanting to intrude on what was shaping up to be a private moment. The silence stretched after Emily's last statement and he could just picture the intense stare between them in his mind. There had been many of them over the last three days, like some sort of fucked up battle of wills.

"Coming round the corner now, don't shoot." Crackled over his earpiece. He grinned slightly, knowing that he probably would have raised the gun in his hand if Cook hadn't warned him. Emily was suddenly beside him again, wordlessly handing him one of the backpacks. Naomi brushed past them both, wearing hers already and holding the fourth. Cook came jogging around the corner, a mischievous grin clearly visible under his balaclava. Thomas knew it was only for show though, it was a little too wide, a little too stiff, to be one of Cook's real grins. He kept his own mouth shut, nodding in Cook's direction, before continuing to watch their backs.

"Right, you take this." He assumed Naomi was talking to Cook. "Remember, stick together. Keep your eyes open and watch your backs." She continued, obviously addressing all of them. "I have to agree with all of you, the lack of guards? It's… troubling. Although, if this holds up, it'll be easy to get out, won't it?" He heard the forced cheer in her voice too, this was worrying her more then she wanted to let on. "Shall we?"

The four of them crept along the unlit gallery, keeping to the shadows as much as the huge windows would allow. The glare from the streetlights outside shone straight through though, making the process difficult. He could see the empty spaces where Cook and the others obviously had removed several paintings, they were glaringly obvious in the sparse lighting. He rounded a corner, wondering why they bothered taking the paintings in the first place, there had been enough money in that safe to more then justify a break in.

Suddenly, a force knocked him backwards and he found himself staring at the ceiling. He could vaguely hear yelling and a lot of gunshots. It seemed to go on forever, or maybe it was just seconds, he couldn't tell either way. He tried moving, but where he was pleasantly numb, pain started blossoming. A pair of eyes and lips hovered over him, he couldn't make out who it was. The lips were moving, saying something. The words sounded wrong, just a series of noises. He tried to focus, to ask what those eyes wanted from him, but all that came out was a groan. The ceiling started moving, the voice constantly talking to him. It dawned on him that it wasn't the ceiling moving, it was him. Someone was carrying him somewhere. He tried lifting his arm, to remove the scratchy material in front of his nose, but his arm felt so heavy.

The ceiling became a sky and before he could appreciate the change, another ceiling. He felt someone tug at the scratchy material on his face and then warm fingers on his cheek. He could almost make out the words now, something about holding on and then there was pain. Unbelievable pain. It felt like he was being ripped in two. He tried to tell whoever it was to stop, again he could only produce another groan.

"I know… I know…" The words actually registered this time, the hand was on his cheek again. He felt like he couldn't get enough air and just wanted to close his eyes. Just for a second, just for a little while. He welcomed the blackness when it finally came.

**-C.S-**

* * *

**I was going to add more, but this seemed like the most natural end to the chapter. The review button is down there *points* if you want to yell or something.**

**Thanks to the usual suspects for keeping me entertained on twitter. *grins and waves***


	8. In the dark

**A/N: **Well, this was a bit late... See, it wasn't as much a block as it was the chapter coming in trickles. (a hundred words here and a hundred words there, it was ridiculous.) Anyways, it's here now, so i'm just gonna stop excusing myself and let you read it.

**Chapter 8: In the dark**

She wasn't sure what was worse, the sobbing, or the heavy silence that followed. It had been three hours since Thomas had drawn his last breath and everyone seemed to still be on edge. Panda had cried herself to sleep, barely 20 minutes ago, her head on JJ's shoulder. JJ just looked at the wall, his hand absentmindedly stroking her hair. He seemed completely lost inside his head, not aware of anything around him. The rest were scattered around the living room, all of them looking like shit. Not that she expected them to look like anything else, but it was just so stifling. It was like an echo of the tension that had hung over the apartment the last few days, like a remnant. She couldn't stand it anymore, had to get out of there before it swallowed her whole.

"I need some air." She mumbled, practically stumbling to the door. No one seemed to notice her, no one acknowledged her. She expelled a breath she wasn't even aware of holding as soon as the door closed behind her. She leaned heavily against the wall, the hand not clutching the bottle Cook had thrust into her hand earlier, went to pinch the bridge of her nose. The headache she felt coming on, didn't lessen. She considered going in to the other apartment, maybe try and sleep, but the promise of fresh air made her straighten again and head for the stairs. She couldn't stand the thought of the enclosed space of the elevator.

It was a split second decision really, instead of going down, she found herself moving up towards the roof. She wanted the wind on her face, she wanted to breathe, to be alone. The door opened almost silently, she closed her eyes as the first gust of air hit her and let the door fall shut behind her.

"Come to check up on me?" The voice was quiet, the words nearly lost in the wind. It still scared the shit out of her though, her eyes snapping open.

"I didn't know you were up here." She answered when she found her voice again, just as quietly. "I just wanted some air."

"So you really didn't come to check up on me? Didn't come to see if I'd jumped off the roof or something?" The tone shifted, grew harsher.

"No, I really didn't." She answered, ignoring the small huff of disbelief that followed. She walked up to the ledge, leaning over it to look down. The people looked like ants, scuttling around to get from one end to another. It amazed her that life just went on, like nothing had happened, like nothing had changed. She shifted her gaze to the horizon instead, the sun had already come up, she must have sat in the apartment for much longer then she originally thought. A slight tugging on the bottle she was holding, made her look down.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to share?" Was grumbled when she didn't let go right away.

"Alcohol? Are you kidding?" She laughed bitterly, finally letting go of the bottle, looking back up to the sky. "What I learned about sharing, about kindness, I learned from doing the opposite of what my mother did."

"Ah, that explains it then." There was no warmth in the statement, only what sounded like contempt. "Tell me, did you do the opposite of what mummy dearest didn't teach you, when you decided to fuck over every last one of us?"

"Naomi…"

"Don't you fucking 'Naomi' me!" She took a step back from the intense anger on Naomi's face. Naomi spun around suddenly, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Why did you come here Emily?" The question was disturbingly soft after the way she had yelled just a second earlier. She fought the urge to step forward and slide her hands around Naomi's waist. She wanted to bury her nose in her hair. She looked at the ground instead, trying desperately to remove the temptation.

"I told you… I wanted some air." She mumbled. "And I just thought…"

"No." Naomi interjected. "Not what are you doing here, as in on the roof. I meant why didn't you give up when you couldn't find us? You could've gone back to England, made up something about us, gotten your brother and disappeared." It sounded so logical, so easy. Naomi walked over to a wall and slid down.

"I don't know…" She followed Naomi tentatively, watched her take a sip from the bottle. It amazed her that someone could look so utterly broken and yet so goddamn beautiful. "Maybe that's what I should have done." She slid down next to Naomi, making sure that there was a respectable space between them. She shivered slightly, wishing she had brought a jacket, or that she could sit closer to Naomi. Have her wrap an arm around her, make her feel warm again. "Maybe I should've never come here."

"I just don't get it." Naomi sighed beside her, placing the bottle between them. Emily waited until she withdrew her hand completely to pick it up. "Is this just another game to you? A way to mess with me some more, before you sell us out again?" Emily's hand froze, the bottle half way to her mouth.

"What?" She spat.

"You have to admit, it's the perfect timing. You show up, tell me you suddenly have feelings for me, comes along for a job that's been planned for fucking months and it all goes to shit." Naomi's words held no emotions.

"Are you seriously telling me that you think I have something to do with…" She hesitated, looking for the right words. "With… What happened?" She couldn't bring herself to actually say it, she still saw all the blood if she closed her eyes for too long. She shivered again, sneaking a glance at Naomi. She was surprised to find Naomi staring at her intently, some of the anger she felt melted under that stare. She looked away again, finally raising the bottle to her lips and taking a swallow. The alcohol left a trail of fire, warming her slightly, it still didn't stop the shudder that ran through her though. The bottle still tasted like Naomi, she shuddered again.

"I don't know." Despite the answer, Naomi shifted closer to her, reaching for the bottle. "I don't think I know anything anymore." Emily struggled to keep her eyes off of Naomi as she brought the bottle to her lips. The fact that she could feel the warmth radiating from Naomi's side, even though they weren't even touching, didn't help. That she could also see Naomi lick her lips out of the corner of her eye, made it damn near impossible. She swallowed, closing her eyes, it only made it worse, made the images in her head that much more vivid. Her eyes snapped open again.

"Could you…" Her voice cracked, she cleared her throat and licked her own lips, looking slightly to the right of Naomi's hand. "Umm… Could you pass me the bottle?" She knew she shouldn't be thinking about taking Naomi's hand, should even consider leaning closer and she really shouldn't imagine Naomi's lips on hers, but she couldn't shake it. She could feel her heart thumping, was almost sure that Naomi could hear it.

"Sure." Naomi's voice was soft again, she couldn't read it. Naomi handed her the bottle and their hands touched for a split second, Emily felt her heart stutter. The touch was innocent, tiny. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have even been aware of it, but this was Naomi and as a result she was hyperaware of everything.

"Thank you." She looked up, her eyes meeting Naomi's. Despite knowing that this was a bad idea, she couldn't look away. Those blue eyes drew her in, swallowing her whole. Her breath caught slightly in her chest. She wasn't sure who leaned in, who initiated it, but all of a sudden Naomi's lips were on her own. She sighed into the kiss, the bottle dropping to the ground with a loud clattering noise. She could feel Naomi's warmth through her jacket, the heat radiating off her skin. Slowly, she let her hand slip into Naomi's hair, she wanted to sigh again, but held it in. She couldn't stop the small sound of contentment as Naomi's hands slipped under her shirt though. The sound seemed to break the spell Naomi was under, and their kiss. Naomi shifted backwards, she could feel the hands that were on her back, slide forward, grazing more skin, until the connection was broken completely.

"I shouldn't have done that…" Naomi said hoarsely. Emily finally opened her eyes again, only to see Naomi look away from her, biting her lip and clenching her hands.

"Why? Why shouldn't you have done that?" She reached out tentatively, but Naomi shifted further and her hand hang between them, just out of range of Naomi's leg. She swallowed, feeling a pang of disappointment.

"I was just… I just needed…" Naomi sighed, still not looking at her at all.

"Look at me." She scooted forwards, reaching out again. "Please, look at me." She wanted to cringe at the tone of her voice, it sounded so goddamn needy and weak. She saw Naomi draw in a breath, her shoulders drawing back, just as Emily's hand connected with her.

"It was a mistake." The iciness in Naomi's voice, left no room for doubt. Neither did the way she unceremoniously shrugged her hand off. The only comfort Emily had, was that Naomi still didn't seem able to look at her. "I should get back down." Naomi got to her feet, Emily did the same, but didn't follow when Naomi started to walk away.

"It wasn't a mistake." She called after her. "You can try to deny it, but I love you and I know you love…"

"Loved!" Naomi snapped, before Emily could get it all out, whirling around.

"What?" She said quietly.

"Think about it, Ems. How the fuck can I love you? I don't even know who you are!" Naomi finally met her eyes, taking a step towards her again. Her face was a study in anger, her eyes burning. Emily wanted to cower, or maybe just run away, instead she did the opposite. She fought back.

"That's bullshit. If you feel nothing for me, why did you kiss me?" Emily hissed back, taking a step forward herself.

"Momentary lapse of judgement." Naomi shrugged, but didn't back away when Emily took another step towards her.

"You are so full of it!" Naomi blanched a little, but still didn't move as Emily stalked even closer. "You do feel something." Her voice grew softer the closer she got. "Admit it, Naomi. Admit you feel this too." She grabbed one of Naomi's hands, with both her own and placed it over her heart, it was still thumping like crazy. Naomi's eyes flickered down to their hands and back up.

"Emily…" Naomi closed her eyes, but not before Emily saw the tears that threatened to spill over. "I can't do this." Naomi whispered, tugging on her hand. Emily couldn't let go, not when she was this close. "Please, not now… Just… I can't…"

"Fine, but we are going to have this discussion one of these days." Emily sighed and knew there was only one way to handle this. She squeezed Naomi's hand and let it slide free, her own hands dropping down to her sides. Naomi didn't answer, she just backed away a few paces. Emily turned her back to her, she couldn't stand to see her walk away. She rubbed a hand across her face, her eyes landing on the bottle on the ground. She heard the soft click of the door closing as she bent to retrieve it. She let out another sigh, walked over to the wall again and sank down against it with her eyes closed. She knew the roof would be empty when she opened them again.

**-C.S-**

The room was dark, the curtains blocking most of the light. The heavy drapes and the blinds had been a conscious choice. A way to ensure that it would always be dark enough to sleep in, regardless of what time of day it was. He sat on the bed though, his head in his hands. He was wide awake, despite the empty bottle on the nightstand, despite that he hadn't slept for about 36 hours. His mind just refused to shut off, the way everything went down still played over and over in his head. He groaned, flopping back onto the bed. The door opened behind him, but he didn't bother looking up, he knew who it was. There was only one person that would go near him when he felt like this.

"Do you have a minute?" He extended a hand at the question, beckoning her into the room. "It can wait if you…"

"Just spit it out." He growled, cutting her off.

"Never mind…" He craned his neck awkwardly, looking at her, she looked like shit. "We'll talk later, get some sleep." He hadn't seen her look this bad in a very long time. He sighed.

"Wait, Naomi… What did you want to talk about?" He knew her well enough to know that when she asked him for a minute, she was struggling with something. He wondered briefly if someone had know Thomas as well as he knew Naomi. Maybe Panda had once, but they had looked like they didn't anymore. Like there was only echoes of a bond they had once shared, but it had been lost along the way. He really didn't want that for him and Naomi. He turned around to face her. Her shoulders sagged, her hand was on the doorknob. "Turn around and look at me." He said softly.

"I look like a mess." She answered with a small, bitter chuckle. He heard the pain in it, the unspoken anguish.

"Oh, I think I've seen you worse." He made his voice light, letting her know that he in no way saw it as a weakness. In fact, she was the strongest person he had ever known. He used to think that Gina was the stronger of the two, but time had changed it. Naomi had grown, morphed into someone who he respected with every fibre of his being. He would die for her, just as he knew she would die for him.

"I don't doubt it." The chuckle this time was lighter, but not by much. She was still facing the door. "How many times have we woken up in the same bed over the years?"

"Too many times." He answered with a chuckle of his own. "And not one of them for the fun reason." She did turn around at that, a flash of genuine mirth flew across her face. It didn't last long enough though, not to him.

"Are you saying you want to fuck me Cook? Cause that would just be weird…" She made a face at him, poking out her tongue. He forced out a laugh, she really did look awful. She read his expression though, she always did, read the questions he knew he was asking soundlessly. "Emily." She answered. "With a dose of Thomas dying and probably a dash of survivals guilt."

"You did what you could, you always do." He told her truthfully. "No one blames you."

"They don't need to, I blame myself enough." She interjected. He patted the bed, indicating she should sit down. He wanted to put his arms around her, to ease the pain he saw. She sat down on the edge of the bed, he rolled his eyes at her and drew her into a hug. She resisted at first, but let herself relax into his embrace. "You smell like a fucking brewery." She mumbled into his chest, pushing slightly at him. He only held her tighter.

"You know you love me and my smelly hugs." He answered lightly, letting the silence settle comfortably around them for a moment, before continuing. "Tell me about Emily?" He felt her tense, felt her fight harder to get free from his hug, he didn't let her move. Eventually, she surrendered to it, sinking further into him.

"I kissed her." She mumbled. "When we were on the roof just now. I don't know why."

"Of course you know why." He chided. "Come on now, use your words. Tell me what really happened." She sighed, pushing slightly at him again. He let her withdraw a little this time.

"She makes me feel something, Cook. I can't block her out." She fiddled with one of the buttons on his shirt. "It doesn't matter if it's anger, or if it's love, or even hate. She makes me feel." He knew what she was talking about, the numbness he had seen in her when Gina died, it had never really gone away. Emily had almost managed to pull her out of it, only to dump her right back where she started. In a way, he resented Emily for that, but in others he was grateful. Grateful that she'd shown Naomi that it was possible to climb out of it, to actually live.

"You should hear her out." She made a noise of protest. "No, hang on, I'm not saying you should trust her. All I'm saying is that if those goddamn looks she's sending you is anything to go by, she really does feel something for you. I mean, the tension alone…" He let it trail off, knowing he'd said enough.

"But what if that's all there is? Tension, lust, what if that's all she feels?"

"Really, Naomi? That's what you believe?" He asked, letting disbelief tinge his voice. She cracked a small smile, this time it looked to be reaching her eyes.

"No." She admitted. He kissed the top of her head and felt her draw in a deep breath. "No, I think there's more."

"I think so too." He answered, and hoped he was right.

**-C.S-**

The apartment was mercifully empty, she wasn't sure how much more she could deal with. She slammed the door shut, probably using a bit more force then she should have, shrugging out of her soaking wet jacket and kicked off her shoes. The rain had felt good at the time, like it washed some of the ugliness away, it had left her shivering though. She popped open the top button of her jeans, leaving a trail of water as she headed for the bathroom. She grabbed the hem of her t-shirt, tugging it off in one fluent motion, flinging it into a corner of the room, not bothering to close the bathroom door. It landed with a sodden thud. She never heard the front door open behind her, too busy drying her hair. Her hands froze for a second when she noticed the reflection in the mirror, before continuing as if she hadn't seen her.

She could feel eyes trailing up her back, roaming over every inch of bare skin, she struggled to keep her own eyes from straying to the mirror. Waiting for the other to break the silence, to say something, but it didn't come though. She slowed her movements, letting the towel drop to the floor and bent her head down, leaning against the bathroom sink. Her knuckles was turning white, she stared at them with fascination, trying to push the overwhelming feeling of those eyes on her away. She could feel goose bumps forming, the hair at the back of her neck trying to stand. She drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly and pushed herself upright again. Her head was still down, not making eye contact, not even acknowledging that she knew someone was behind her.

"If you don't say something soon, I think I might start to screaming." She said evenly, breaking the heavy silence.

"Oh, I… umm… couldn't figure out if I should stay or if I should just leave you alone. I'm sorry." The voice was wavering, insecure. She lifted her head, finally allowing herself to look at the other. She tilted her head slightly, waiting for an explanation, she didn't have to wait long. "The others were back an hour ago, I just… I wanted…" The voice faltered. "They wouldn't tell us where they'd been. Where you were." The last part came out in a rush, as if she didn't want to add it.

"I don't see why they didn't just tell you." She muttered, frowning in to the mirror.

"Can you blame them, Naomi? It's not like I've given them any reason to trust me." Naomi closed her eyes, leaning against the sink again. She could feel a single drop of water making it's way down her spine to her bra strap. When she opened her eyes again, seeking out Emily's, she found them transfixed on the spot where she had felt the drop disappear.

"We were making arrangements." She offered, hiding a smile when she saw the guilty way Emily's eyes snapped up to her own. "Panda wants to take Thommo home, back to Bristol. His mother would appreciate it, they were close once."

"I should have guessed." Emily mumbled quietly. "But…" She was chewing her lips now, refusing to meet Naomi's gaze at all. "Where… umm… where were you?" Again, the tone was insecure, Naomi frowned at the sound of it. It made her wonder which one was the real Emily, this meek, uncertain version, or the almost cocky, straightforward version she had known back in London. She turned around, wanting to take a closer look, to see if this Emily was an act or not.

"I had to clear my head." She answered easily, studying Emily's face for a reaction. "So I walked around the block a couple of times." Emily's shoulders sagged a little, with relief? Naomi frowned again, not making much sense of it. All she wanted at that point, was for Emily to look at her again, so she could get a clear read on her. "Probably would've stayed out longer, but…" She swept an arm down, indicating her lack of clothing. "…it got a bit… wet." Emily's lips twitched, as if she was fighting off a smirk. Naomi raised an eyebrow, processing the tiny gesture.

"I see." Emily answered, her eyes flickering briefly over Naomi's body. Their proximity and the lack of clothing, crashed suddenly into Naomi's awareness. It hadn't really occurred to her how close they were, or how little clothes she was wearing. It had crossed her mind, sure, but not really registered properly until now. She swallowed, dragging her eyes away from Emily and let them settle on the door frame instead.

"I should…" Naomi gestured towards herself again and to the door, sneaking another look at Emily. The way Emily's lips are parted, the full-blown pupils, almost made her moan out loud. She shook her head, trying to dispel the images racing through her head, she needed to get the hell out of there, before she did something stupid. "Yeah, I really should… Umm… You know, get dressed." She finished lamely. She moved towards Emily, hoping she wouldn't say anything, because if she did, she wasn't quite sure what the reaction to it might be.

"Naomi…" It came out as a sigh when Naomi tried to squeeze past where Emily was leaning up against the door frame and get out to her bedroom. She froze, close enough to feel Emily's warmth, close enough to feel small puffs of air on her skin whenever Emily breathed. A warm hand was on her arm, holding her back. The touch was light though, if she wanted to escape it, she could. "We still need to talk about this."

"No… We really don't." Naomi answered, trying desperately to hold herself back from just pouncing on Emily. She felt the grip on her arm tighten when she tried to step away. "Just let go of me, Emily. Please?" She was pleading, fighting the inevitable, they both knew it. Knew that if Emily just pushed a little more, Naomi would break.

"I can't." Emily's voice cracked slightly, broke around the almost inaudible answer. To Naomi, it still sounded like she was screaming it at the top of her lungs.

"It's easy." She sneered, suppressing the tingles that were shooting up and down her arm, the warmth she felt spreading throughout her body. She wanted to give in, she really did, but she just couldn't. "You just open your hand and let go." It came out condescending, just like she wanted it to. Her insides were screaming at her to let go herself, to just loosen the hold she had on her control and take what she wanted. She closed her eyes, trying to get her heartbeat back to normal, to take calm, even breaths.

"Don't do this, Naomi. Don't push me away." Instead of being deterred by the tone Naomi had used, it seemed to spur Emily on. Naomi felt the grip on her arm shift, glide effortlessly down to her hand, lacing their fingers together. It didn't even occur to her that she should have moved, not in that moment. "I know you don't trust me, I know you need time, but I can't stand seeing you do this to yourself. You're trying to close yourself off to everyone, it doesn't work like that. Life doesn't work like that."

"Sometimes it does." She answered, keeping her voice low, menacing.

"No, it doesn't, listen to me." There was a fire in Emily's words, it scared her a little and she tried getting her to let go of her hand again. Emily tightened her grip though, not letting her go anywhere. "You say you don't know me, but you do. You know me better then anyone, probably even better then Katie." Naomi snorted in disbelief at that statement, not believing her at all. "You do." Emily insisted, squeezing Naomi's hand."

"I don't know who you're trying to convince here, but the thought that I know you better then your own sister, twin even? It's ridiculous, Ems, just ridiculous." She winced slightly, noticing the nickname a moment too late. She could feel Emily shift behind her, getting closer.

"But you do." Emily repeated. "She knew who I was when we were 13, not who I grew into." Naomi could feel the heat rolling off Emily's body, despite that there was still some distance between them. She made a disbelieving noise in the back of her throat, mostly because she couldn't get any words out. "We used to tell each other everything, me and Katie." Emily began, Naomi let the voice wash over her. "But something changed." The melancholy in Emily's voice was haunting. "We grew apart, I guess. She started running after boys, while I stayed home and took care of James and mum. She wanted someone to notice her, I just wanted to be left alone. It changed again when mum finally snapped, she didn't know what to do, how to fix it. She used to be quite the little… well, there's no nice way of putting this I guess…" Naomi heard her draw in a breath. "She was a selfish bitch, plain and simple." There was a pause again and Naomi wondered if she should say something, she never got the chance. "But after we left, after we were on our own, she became what she is today. The bitch is still in there, don't ever doubt that, but I think she lost a bit of her confidence, or maybe she's just lost in general. I don't know."

"Why are you telling me this?" She murmured quietly, having finally found her voice again.

"Because I need you to see that I was lost too. I didn't know what to do with myself either, but Katie and James needed me and I stepped up. I assumed a role, a mask and I didn't even know it until you found the real me, until you were gone. Until I had pushed you away." The words were spoken with conviction, but Naomi sneered silently at them.

"Pushed me away?" She asked, an edge to her own voice. She wrenched her hand free, it was surprisingly easy when she really tried, and rounded on Emily. "You didn't fucking push me anywhere! You sold me out, you sold my family out, to the highest fucking bidder and you have the nerve to say that you 'pushed me away'?" She grabbed Emily's upper arms, yanking her closer. "You didn't push me anywhere, you burnt the fucking house down." To her surprise, Emily didn't even flinch, instead she was smiling slightly, her eyes sparkling.

"That's it. Get mad, get furious. Punch me if you want to, I don't really care." Naomi frowned, staring into her eyes. "At least this means you feel something for me, at least I know you still care." Naomi dropped her grip at once, turning again, walking towards the front door. "No!" Emily's hands were suddenly holding her back again.

"Just fuck off, Emily!" She yelled angrily, struggling to get free.

"No, I won't." The calm words were a stark contrast to her own yelling. "If it means having to fucking superglue myself to your side to stay there, I will. I'm not letting you go anywhere without me." Naomi felt some of the fight go out of her, felt Emily's arms slide around her waist to hold her more securely, felt her press herself more firmly into her back.

"Emily…" She said softly, letting herself relax slightly more.

"Did you know how much I love it when you say my name?" Emily interrupted. "Even when you yell it at me in anger, there's this slight change in your tone… Almost like a caress." The words were spoken onto her skin, she could feel Emily's lips moving, the gentle vibration of her voice.

"Don't say things like that." She pleaded, gently plucking Emily's hands off her body, she needed some space. Emily let her, knowing that she had already won.

"I mean them. I've meant them all." She stated, as Naomi took a few shaky steps away from her. Naomi closed her eyes again, just for a moment and bit her lips as she turned around. She allowed a fraction of what she really felt to shine through in her eyes and knew that Emily would see it regardless that the only light in the apartment came from the still open bathroom door. "Naomi…?" Emily halfway whispered, halfway sighed as she met her eyes and Naomi suddenly understood what she meant about the name thing.

She wasn't sure how long they stood there, just looking at each other, it could have been a few seconds or half an hour. It didn't matter anyways, the only thing that mattered to Naomi was the things she could see in those eyes. Love, trust, lust, guilt, she saw it all. The longer she looked the more convinced she was that Emily was telling her the truth, that Emily really did feel something and was sorry for what she had done, but she didn't know if it was enough. Emily shifted, looking like she was about to take a step forward when the door to the apartment opened, breaking the spell they both were under.

"There you are!" Katie exclaimed cheerfully, Naomi took a step back, breaking eye contact with Emily. "What's the name of that flower place we used to use? I thought maybe we should send Thomas' mum some flowers and…" She trailed off, finally registering that Emily wasn't alone. "Oh, did I… Umm… Interrupt something?"

"No, it's fine." Naomi gritted out. "I was just on my way to get changed." She turned on her heel, carefully avoiding looking at Emily again.

"Shit, Emsy, I didn't know, I'm sorry." Was the last thing she heard before she closed her bed room door. She slumped against it, sagging to the floor. The situation was just too fucked up to deal with. She sighed, getting back up, finally shedding her now nearly dry pants and crawled into bed. She dragged the covers over her head, effectively shutting everything out, just wanting to sleep. She heard the door open, felt the bed dip and someone putting their arms around her.

"Told you I wasn't going anywhere."

**-C.S-**

* * *

**Yes, that's where I'm ending it. **


	9. Running circles

**A/N: **What can I say? Other then I'm very sorry, I mean. I never meant for this to be so late, but when you combine crazy work hours all through the summer, a vacation and a writers block...Well, let's just say that it's here now, and again, I'm very sorry. Thanks to Es for reading through about half of this and reassuring me I hadn't completely lost my writing "skills" And to whoever wanted to have babies with this story, feel free, but I'm not paying child support :P

Anyways, here we are. Enjoy.

**Chapter 9: Running circles**

"Move." The sharp poke to his ribs, along with the hissed command, made him grunt. He sleepily opened his eyes, blinking a few times, before turning slightly to see her climb into bed with him.

"The fuck?" He mumbled, not quite awake. "Are we running?" His head shot up, hand fumbling for the gun in the drawer of his nightstand, squinting into the darkness to see her more clearly. His heart pounded, trying to make sense of the manner she walked into the room. "Is someone here? The others! Should we…"

"We're not running, no one is here and, as far as I know, the others are fine. Just scoot the fuck over and don't hog the covers." She growled, poking him again. He grumbled something under his breath, not even sure what it was about himself, and flopped back into bed. He complied though, making room for her.

"Why aren't you in your own bed?" He yawned, shifting to get comfortable again, feeling her get properly under the covers too. He took a few deep breaths, waiting for his heartbeat to slow back down.

"Emily is there." She sounded exhausted. "I waited for her to fall asleep, and then snuck in here." He heard her stifle a yawn of her own.

"You shagged her and snuck out?" He asked disbelievingly.

"No, I didn't shag her, you idiot." He winced as she punched his shoulder. "She's trying to prove that she's not leaving again, or some shit like that, and came into my room and crawled into bed with me. I pretended to be asleep, there was no shagging!"

"You still left her in your bed though…" He trailed off.

"Yeah… Not really proud of that, but I can't Cook. I just can't." She was silent for a moment. "Look, just forget it, ok? Let's just sleep?"

"But…" He pushed, she huffed next to him and cut him off.

"Look, I think the scariest thing ever, is to trust your heart to someone, knowing they can break it with a single look or sentence. That they can absolutely and completely ruin you. They leave scars and wounds that can't be seen and sometimes you give away too much to the wrong people and you can never get it back." Her words were slurred, tapering off here and there, but she had obviously thought about what she wanted to say. He sighed sadly as he heard her supress another yawn.

"It's alright, Naomi." He answered, staring into the darkness, hoping he was right.

"It's not alright." She mumbled. "I can't do that again, I'm trying to not do that again, but I'm failing miserably." Naomi almost whispered the last few lines, before her voice picked up again. "And having Emily in my bed isn't helping." She sighed. "Please, Cook. I haven't slept in nearly 48 hours, I just want to get some sleep, ok?" He heard the pleading tone in her voice, the way it drifted off, and he shifted around, trying to see her face.

"You know, I think you're being a bit too dramatic." He mumbled, trying to get her to lighten up. She shifted again next to him, curling in on herself. "But then again, you always were a bit of a drama queen." He smiled sadly when she just grunted, probably already half asleep, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her temple. "Sweet dreams, Naomi. God knows you need it." He whispered and rolled onto his side, back facing her again and closed his eyes. He lay there, just listening to her slow and steady breaths.

_XXXXXX_

He couldn't sleep, he had been trying for the past 20 minutes, but sleep just wouldn't come. He looked over at Naomi, watching her curl reflexively around her pillow. He could just make out the furrowed brow and the small twitches on her face in the dim light. Sighing softly, he got out of bed, abandoning his own attempts at sleeping. Grabbing some clothes off the floor, he made his way out to the living room. To his surprise, he found JJ already on the couch.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?" JJ asked softly, sheepishly looking up from the laptop in front of him.

"Nah, mate, didn't hear a thing. Couldn't sleep s'all." Cook answered, not bothering to even try to keep his voice down. "What are you doing here and not over in your apartment?" He sank down on the couch next to JJ and glanced briefly at the laptop.

"Oh, umm, Panda has hit the anger stage of her grief." JJ looked up at him, shrugging half-heartedly. "Just thought I'd get out of her hair for an hour or two. And I originally wanted to show Naomi what I found, I just sort of forgot to check the time before I came over." Cook hid a smile at that statement, knowing that when JJ started working on something, time just didn't seem to hold much importance to him. "Thought I'd wait for one of you here, on the off chance you weren't asleep."

"What did you find?" He almost dreaded the answer, there was still a tiny part of him that told him that the twins could have something to do with the current situation they found themselves in. "I can get Naomi out here…" He trailed off when he saw JJ shake his head.

"Let her sleep, I know she hasn't done much of it lately." He watched JJ pull up some files on the computer and angle it toward him. "This is the thing I wanted to show you." He hit a button and Cook focused on the screen. A video started playing, showing an angle he wasn't aware they had ever filmed, the video was only about 20 seconds long, the camera suddenly losing its signal.

"Help me out here Jay, what am I looking at?"

"Well, we originally placed 7 cameras inside the gallery, all pointed at strategic points." He pulled up a schematic, showing a blue print of the building in question, pointing out the spots to Cook "The day after we placed them, one of them went offline. Now, neither me or Naomi thought much of it at the time, malfunctions do happen." Cook nodded, remembering hearing about it, but not putting much stock in it. "I've gone over the last few frames from right before it stopped working and I found this." He rolled the video again, Cook leaned forward, trying to see what JJ had seen.

"I can't see anything." He stated, looking expectantly at JJ, waiting for him to explain.

"You're not looking in the right place." JJ answered, from anyone else it would have sounded smug, but Cook knew JJ was simply stating the facts as he saw them. "I didn't think there was anything there either, but look…" He played it for a third time, pausing it near the end and pointing to a shadow near the corner. "There. That's not supposed to be there, so I did some adjusting, playing with a few reflections and came up with this." An image was pulled up, clearly showing a man removing the camera.

"Fuck me." Cook breathed, both appalled and a little relieved. If this had happened the day after they had placed them, it meant that Emily and Katie had nothing to do with it. They hadn't even known about the job at that point.

"Exactly." JJ answered absentmindedly. "They knew we were coming and they had 3 weeks to crack the frequency we were sending through. Remember the electrical storm a few days before we went in? The flickering signals?" Cook nodded, mouth hanging slightly open. "We just assumed that the weather was the cause of the disturbance, but that's when they looped it. I wasn't sure, but… If you look at this." Another few images were pulled up, showing the same image, but with a different date on the two of them. "It's quite ingenious really, they gambled on us not watching the feed 24/7 and they were right."

"They were just waiting for us to make a move? But why?" Cook's mind was racing. "Maybe so they could have a probable excuse should someone call in the shooting?" He thought out loud. "It would make sense, and would've probably worked if we hadn't split up… They weren't expecting that, it threw them off. I mean, it would've been easy to just take us out. Two ambush sites, one at the top of the stairs, one around the corner from the gallery…" He trailed off, realisation hitting him like a truck. "We didn't come in the way they expected us to, they had to improvise."

"It would seem so." JJ remarked, with a small nod, pain flashing in his eyes. "I should have seen this earlier, maybe if I had, Thomas would still be…"

"Shhh…" Cook drew JJ into a hug. "It's not your fault. The only ones at fault here are dead or on their way to prison." He could feel JJ shake minutely, feel his shirt getting damp where JJ's head was resting. JJ didn't make a sound though and Cook didn't feel the need to point it out.

**-C.S-**

"Did I miss it?" She asked breathlessly, plopping down on the couch next to Effy, eyes darting around the room, before settling one of the bedroom doors. "Please, tell me I didn't miss it."

"Nope." Effy simply answered, casually flicking through a magazine.

"Excellent." She breathed out, leaning forward, stealing a sip from Effy's coffee mug. Effy raised an eyebrow at her and fixed her with a pointed stare. "Jeez, fine, I won't do it again." She held up her hands in a gesture of surrender, Effy went back to her magazine. She felt the anticipation race through her, watching the damned door still, and just couldn't seem to sit still any longer. "Right, I'll just get my own." She announced, gesturing to the cup, getting back on her feet and headed to the kitchen.

"Would save me trouble of whacking you with my magazine if you tried stealing my coffee again." Effy commented, turning a page almost nonchalantly. She caught the twitch of Effy's lip though, as she turned around to scowl at her, and the scowl slid right off her face and she indulged in a small smile of her own. The smile morphed into a grin as soon as she got to the kitchen, she hummed under her breath as she found herself a mug.

"Someone's happy. Too bloody happy, if you ask me." Cook grumbled suddenly behind her, she started, but managed to keep the mug firmly clutched in her hand.

"Jesus, Cook. You should wear a fucking bell sometimes." She cast a glance at him and sighed. "And put a fucking shirt on! It's too early for that shit." Cook grinned insolently at her, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Just like it's too early for your out of tune humming." He countered as she found herself some coffee.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." She huffed, watching him move around the kitchen. "Was Naomi in your room again last night?" She asked, following him back out to the couches, she slid down next to Effy as he settled in the couch across from them.

"Nah, only the one two nights ago. She's been a good girl and slept in the same room as Emily since… Not that Emily gave her much choice." He chuckled, Katie smiled at the memory of her sister screaming at Naomi about telling her where she went, about what it felt like to wake up alone. Parts of her sympathized with her sister, she snuck a quick glance at Effy, but she understood where Naomi was coming from too. What Emily had done, what they had both done… Katie supressed a shudder and wondered, not for the first time, why on earth these people seemed to trust them both. Her train of thought was interrupted by Panda, with JJ in tow, walking in to the apartment.

"Did we miss it?" JJ asked, breathlessly, plopping down on the couch next to Cook. Panda perched herself on the armrest next to him. The answer to his question came almost instantaneously as Naomi stumbled out of her room and went wordlessly to the bathroom. "Apparently not." He mumbled.

"Fifty quid says 2 minutes." Cook said, his voice low, his eyes darting between the bathroom and the room Naomi had just come out of.

"Less than one." Effy countered. "And I'll take that bet." JJ was grinning at them both, Panda looking at JJ with a fond, sad, little smile.

"You're on!" Cook exclaimed, checking the watch on his wrist, Katie glanced at her own watch and looked up at them both again. Effy was smirking confidently at Cook, while he was leaning back on the couch, his eyes trained on the bedroom door again. Katie grinned and settled back against her own couch, enjoying the light banter between the two, even if they were betting on when her sister would come out of Naomi's bedroom.

"You people are ridiculous." She told them, still grinning.

"Yeah, but you love us for it." Cook shot back just as Emily came shuffling out of the door, his face fell a fraction. "Damn it!" He muttered as Emily slumped down next to Katie, her eyes darting around the apartment. Katie huffed, rolling her eyes at the obvious way Emily was behaving.

"Morning, Emily." Effy kept her eyes on Cook, extending a hand across the table towards him. "Thanks for helping me prove a point."

"Morning." Emily mumbled, looking completely wrecked, ignoring the last part of Effy's statement. Katie looked at her, noting the weariness that seemed to cling to her sister and wanted desperately to help her in some way. She had no idea how to even begin going about it though, or what, if anything, she should do. Katie pushed her mug towards her, smiling slightly when Emily looked at her gratefully, immediately clutching the mug like it was a lifeline. "Thanks." She seemed tense though, Katie smiled at her sadly.

"You got lucky, Stonem." Cook grumbled good-naturedly, Effy just rolled her eyes and indicated for him to just give her the money. "What?" He looked around the table at the others. "I don't have the money on me." His face split in to a grin. "You're welcome to search for them though." He stood up, spread his arms and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ugh, and here I was planning on actually having breakfast in a bit." Effy grimaced, Katie chuckled at the look of disgust on her face. "As if your slurping and shitty table manners weren't enough to put me off." Cook threw his head back and laughed.

"They are rather appalling." JJ commented. "I mean, you seem to be wearing more of your cereal then what you've managed to put in your mouth." Cook only laughed louder, throwing his hand around a very flustered JJ, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Fucks sake, keep your fucking voice down Cook." Naomi suddenly grumbled, breezing past them and into the kitchen. Katie could feel Emily relax slightly, finally raising the mug she had been clutching, to her lips and taking a sip. Cook feel silent, he was still grinning wolfishly, but he was no longer howling with laughter.

"Maybe we should get going." Panda said quietly. Katie looked at her, noting that she looked about as bad as her sister, maybe even worse. Panda had never been one to conform, using bright clothes and bright smiles to distract from what she was really doing. And although her own personal style was more subdued, Katie had noticed in the past that she usually had some splashes of bright colours, a little something that distinguished her from the rest, it was absent now though.

"Stay a while, have some food." She found herself saying without really knowing why. Maybe she was still trying to atone for what she had done, maybe it was just that Panda looked so goddamn lost and she just wanted to help her too. Whatever it was, she just felt that it would do Panda some good to stay amongst people for a while, she had withdrawn herself from the group after Thomas died. JJ was the only one Katie knew Panda still had some sort of a normal relationship with. Whatever normal was in these situations.

"Yeah, you should stay." Effy echoed, reaching out to squeeze Katie's thigh in a silent thanks. At least that's how Katie chose to look at it, as the alternatives would only get her hopes up and that, she suspected, wouldn't end well. Before Panda could answer, Naomi came back in to the room.

"Good, you're all here." She looked around at them all, Katie noticed that she seemed to skip over Emily though. "I wanted to go over a few things with you all." Cook sat up a bit straighter and Effy finally threw her magazine onto the coffee table, abandoning it. Naomi cleared her throat. "First thing first, I suppose. We're going home in two days. Some of you…" She looked briefly at Effy. "…already knew this." She shifted her gaze to Cook.

"But…" Panda interjected. "What about… about…" She closed her eyes for a second, drawing in a shuddering breath. JJ grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and she looked at him gratefully. "Thank you." She murmured quietly to him, he simply smiled in response. She drew another breath, visibly steeling herself, before continuing. "What do we do about… Thommo."

"I was getting to that." Naomi answered quietly. "Effy has been reaching out to her contacts, trying to figure out how this is going to work and found a solution just yesterday." She paused, looking at Effy as if to ask if she wanted to tell them herself. Effy shook her head minutely, Katie was sure she would have missed it hadn't she known Effy already. "Right, four of us, I was thinking Panda, JJ, Katie and Effy, follow the… the coffin home. There was only four spots on that plane, so me, Cook and, umm, the rest of us, will follow later. I have some stuff I need to do, so I haven't decided if we should all go together, or if we should split up."

"I'm not leaving you here alone." Cook grumbled, scowling at her. Katie had been expecting a protest, but from Emily and thought, not for the first time, that she'd hate to be the one standing in the way of Cook and Naomi. The loyalty they had to each other was astounding. She recognized parts of it as the same connection herself and Emily shared, but theirs somehow seemed stronger and that made her feel a bit… sad really.

"She won't be alone." Emily answered quietly, but in a tone of voice that told everyone that it would be useless to even try to argue. Naomi opened her mouth to speak, but Emily obviously didn't want to hear it. "I told you, I'm not leaving you again." She wasn't pleading to stay, simply informing Naomi about how it was going to happen. Katie hid a smile when Naomi grumbled something about stubbornness and thick heads under her breath.

"Well, that changes things." Cook grinned, stretching his legs out in front of him. Naomi scowled at him, but softened a second later and sighed loudly.

"I didn't really think that you two would be on board with that idea, but it was worth a shot. Right, while you four…" She indicated to Katie, Effy, Panda and JJ. "…pack up your stuff and get the last details in place. The rest of us need to lay the ground work for us disappearing. Me and Cook will rent another place, making it seem that we intend to stay. Emily will be following and asking very obvious questions of whoever we end up renting from and then she's going to rapport it all to her employer." Naomi looked briefly in Emily's direction, just long enough to see Emily nodding, before continuing. "If everything goes as planned, we'll have about a week or so to fix things back home."

"Sounds good to me." JJ nodded, the rest of them adding their own voices to the agreement. Katie noticed that Panda was quiet though, she glanced at Naomi, wondering if she should mention it to her, but Naomi seemed to already have seen it.

"Panda? Could I talk to you for a sec?" Naomi asked softly, Katie only heard her because she was listening for it. She shot a look at JJ, but he seemed to just frown slightly as the two of them walked into Naomi's, and Emily's she supposed, bedroom. Effy suddenly rose next to her, grabbing both JJ and Cook, saying something about helping them out with removing the cameras they'd put up, or at least coming up with a plan to remove them. She could have sworn she winked at her and indicated to the slumped form next to her.

"How're you holding up, Emsy?" She asked softly, fearing the reaction, the answer. Emily leant back at the question, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"She stays up, watching me pretend to sleep. She thinks she's being stealthy about it, but I can feel her eyes on me. Practically hear her mind whirr." She answered, her arm slumping back down on the couch, her eyes still closed. It didn't surprise Katie that Emily thought she was asking about how things were with her and Naomi. "I'm not sure how much longer…" She trailed off, but Katie remained silent, waiting for her to gather her thought. "She won't put up with me forever." Katie reached out, running her hand through Emily's hair.

"She loves you." She stated confidently.

"Maybe she does, but she doesn't trust me." Emily replied with a self-deprecating chuckle.

"We'll sort it out." She didn't know what else to say, didn't even know where to begin to help her gain back the trust, but she would try, for both their sakes.

**-C.S-**

Emily stood with her hand on the doorknob, knowing she was possibly about to screw things up even more than what they already were. The whole day had been spent getting ready to leave, on making sure that it would seem that they were staying in New York, even if they were heading back to England. An apartment had been rented under one of Naomi's known aliases, she had made sure the doorman knew exactly who she was, that she was remembered.

Sighing, she placed her palm flat on the door, in her mind she could almost see Naomi standing on the other side. She imagined a smile lighting up her face, those startlingly blue eyes sparkling in delight that she had decided to join her. Another moment passed as she indulged in her little fantasy, but she knew it would be the last way Naomi reacted to her when she walked through the door. Either Naomi would scream at her, or worse, she would just ignore Emily all together.

"Here goes nothing." She muttered, opening the door and stepping through. Naomi didn't seem to notice her enter, didn't acknowledge her at all. She leant back on the closed door, looking at Naomi's back, watching her as she was staring out the window.

"I've been feeling your eyes on me all day." Naomi suddenly said, the words were quiet controlled. "And to be quite honest, it's been pissing me off."

"I'm sorry?" Emily wasn't quite sure what to make of that statement. It was true that she had been watching her all day, but it was part of their plan after all. She was supposed to follow Naomi and Cook around, ask questions of everyone they even looked at funny and make sure everyone knew both who they were, but also herself.

"It's like there's this itch at the back of my neck, like fucking bugs crawling under my skin. It makes me want to run, or maybe hit something, I'm not sure which." Naomi opened the window, stuffing her hands in her pockets and drawing up her cigarettes. Emily watched her light one, but didn't say a word. "Or maybe I'm finally going mad." Naomi continued. "God knows it's been a long time coming." She chuckled weakly.

Emily felt the door beneath her palms, wanting to move, but staying put. Naomi was in charge and she was going to hear her out for once, she was going to stop pushing and just accept whatever Naomi would give her.

"Nothing to say, huh? I don't blame you." She watched Naomi shove a hand through her hair. "Maybe you're not even here, maybe I'm having this conversation with you in my head… Can it be a conversation when it's only one participant?" She waved the hand with the cigarette in it, showering ash all over the floor. "Doesn't matter, I suppose." Naomi chuckled weakly, looking at the cigarette in her hand, grimacing and flicking it out the window.

"It does matter." Emily murmured, unable to keep quiet anymore. It seemed to be the wrong answer though, because Naomi's head snapped around so fast, Emily was afraid she had given herself whiplash.

"Does it?" Naomi sneered, stalking towards her. Emily pressed herself further against the door. "Maybe you're right, 'cause if this was only in my head, I wouldn't really feel this!" Emily couldn't seem to look away from Naomi, from the hair that was already tousled, the rumpled shirt she was wearing, or the raging whirlpool of emotion in her eyes. She didn't know when Naomi had reached her, but suddenly she was yanked away from the door and kissed forcefully. She felt Naomi's hand fist itself around the fabric of her own shirt, the growl that started somewhere deep inside her, the tongue that suddenly forced its way into her own mouth.

It was over as soon as it begun, Naomi pushed her away, hard, wiping her mouth angrily on her sleeve. Emily staggered a second before regaining her balance. She was fighting for breath, fighting to get enough oxygen to her brain again, so that she could at least try to make some sort of sense of what just happened.

"I wish I had never met you." Naomi spat, both hands pushing through her hair now. Emily closed her eyes, absorbing the hurt from that sentence, but forced her eyes open again. Forced herself to really look at Naomi. She noted the shaking hands, the way she kept biting her lower lip, the way she wouldn't meet Emily's eyes at all.

"Well, you're stuck with me." She answered easily. "You can wish all you want. You can scream at me, yell, curse, I don't give a fuck. You know why?" Emily asked. Naomi didn't answer, but that didn't deter her at all. "Because I see you, I see what you really mean and what you're really trying to do. You're trying to push me away, but I'm not going anywhere. We've been over this."

"It's always got to be about you, haven't it?" Naomi sneered back, eyes snapping to hers. Emily shuddered slightly. Again, Naomi crossed the distance between them surprisingly fast. One moment, Emily was trying to come up with a reply, while those eyes were harshly staring in to her own, and the next she was flat on her back on the bed with Naomi kneeling just above her, leaning in so that she was barely inches away from her face. "Is this what you want?" She asked, eyes flashing as she ripped Emily's shirt open. "Is this what you've been waiting for?" Emily gasped slightly, hands flying up to grab on to Naomi's arms so she could steady herself, the bed seemed to spin and she felt like she was about to fall off, despite being quite secure somewhere in the middle of it. "Or maybe it's more this?" Naomi continued, ripping off her own shirt too. "Do you like that, Emily? Huh?"

"Naomi…" Emily answered breathlessly, trying to figure out what the hell was actually going on. Apart from the forceful kiss and her knuckles brushing against skin when she'd ripped the shirt off, Naomi hadn't actually touched her. Emily looked up at her, raising one of her hands to trace a frowning eyebrow. Naomi's face softened, and all of a sudden she sank down, clinging to Emily like her life depended on it.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry..." Naomi mumbled, sobs wracking her body. Emily gripped back just as fiercely, running her hands up and down Naomi's back.

"Shh… It's ok." She whispered into Naomi's hair, letting her cry out all her frustrations, her grief. "I'm right here, just let it all out."

Emily had no idea how long they just lay there, clinging to each other, but the last thing she remembered before falling asleep, was the sun creeping in through the bedroom window.

**-C.S-**

**I'll try not to let it go that far in terms of you people having to wait for a new update... Also, if you find any glaring mistakes, I would just like to say that it's 3.40 in the morning here and I will have a look at it tomorrow (feel free to point them out for me...)**


	10. Tell me you're staying

**A/N: **School has filled my head with all kinds of "interesting" stuff and demands that I write papers left, right and center. That unfortunately leads to extremely irregular updates, because I can't seem to find the time to write something that's not school related. Or I'm too fed up with writing when I do... Anyways, I'm sure this isn't what you're here to read, so without further delay, here's the next chapter. Enjoy. (Almost forgot, _this type of writing_, means flashbacks.)

**Chapter 10: Tell me you're staying.**

Empty… empty, empty, empty. She scoffed slightly, her eyes staring at the empty seat beside her, tracing random shapes onto it with her fingertips. Doubt was flaring in her mind, bursts of memories overwhelming her every now and then. The only indication of it, was the way her hand would stop moving for a while, only to move stutteringly into another random shape moments later. Sighing, she looked up and out the window instead, watching clouds swirl gently underneath her. The colours seemed to morph, white like snow in one instant, thundering grey the next, she hoped that didn't mean there would be turbulence. She chuckled weakly at her own thoughts, she'd had enough emotional turbulence in the last few weeks to last her a lifetime. Not to mention all the crap she had gone through before that.

"_I'll stay, throw them off the scent."_

The words echoed in her head, replaying over and over until they had lost their meaning. This had been what she wanted, hadn't it? Some time alone? She leant against the window, feeling the vibrations of the plane shake lose the rest of the conversation.

"_You know it's the only way this will work, this will give you a few extra days. You can bury him in peace, without wondering if there's going to be an attack. Without wondering if this is the day another one of you dies." She could see the sincerity in her eyes as she spoke the words with conviction. "This is my way of making it up to you, or at least starting to."_

"_And what if I told you that you didn't have to do this?" She murmured quietly._

"_I'd tell you that you were lying." Again, that conviction made Naomi falter a bit, made her really look at the other girl. Emily took it the wrong way of course, launching into another explanation. "I know I said I wouldn't leave your side, but don't you see? This is my way of protecting you." Her words were pleading now and Naomi knew she had no choice but to agree._

"But who will protect you?" She whispered to the clouds, not really seeing them. She had changed her mind a million times before she got on the plane and now it was too late to do anything about it. Katie had tried convincing Emily not to stay, of course, but Emily was stubborn. It was one of the things Naomi didn't know if she should be grateful for, or not. If Emily hadn't been so stubborn, she would have probably left, she would have given up on trying to get Naomi to forgive her.

Truth was, Naomi had no real anger towards her anymore, it was just a matter of getting Emily to see that too. She thought she had started that process when she was clinging to Emily, crying her eyes out, finally breaking down, but she wasn't sure Emily saw it like that. Perhaps Emily thought that she had simply broken down near the closest available person. She shook her head at the thought, another memory jumping to the front of her mind.

"_This is ridiculous! Tell her! Tell her she should just stick to the plan and go with you two!" Katie was furious, eyes menacing as she stared at Naomi. Naomi shook her head slightly, averting her own eyes. Katie rounded on Emily, grabbing her shoulders. "Don't do this… Emily, please." Her tone changed completely, all traces of anger gone._

"_I have to." Emily simply answered, grabbing Katie's hands. "You go with Effy and get James, alright? Tell him… Tell him everything. Ok? Naomi and Cook will follow you in a couple of days and I'll be a few days behind them again."_

"_But…" Katie answered. "What if..?"_

"_You can't think like that Katie." Effy intervened. "Emily is going to be fine. She's just staying to send an e-mail. I'll admit that I would have preferred that we all stick together, but this is ultimately her choice. And since Naomi doesn't seem to mind…"_

"_I don't like it either." Naomi interrupted. "I don't like it at all, it's not up to me though. Not anymore."_

She was almost oblivious to Cook sliding in to the seat next to her, lost in the way Emily had looked at her in that moment. The mixture of sadness, love, regret and gratitude had been so very plain to see, she hadn't been able to hold those eyes for too long, had to look away after mere seconds. Cook tugged her towards him, hugging her close.

"She's a big girl, Blondie. She can take care of herself." He always knew what to say to her, it never failed to amaze her. She wondered, not for the first time, what his life would have looked like if she hadn't found him when she did. If he had never even met her mother. Maybe he'd be just the same, but he had a weird way of getting himself in trouble. Nothing major, just stupid things like hitting on the wrong women, selling drugs to the wrong people and some rather questionable tastes in tattoos. She'd personally stopped him when they were around 15-16 from getting a rather hideous one. She grinned slightly at the memory.

"I know." She answered sleepily. She hadn't really slept much since that night with Emily. It seemed to be the norm these days, next to no sleep for long periods of time. The last few nights had been different though. First Emily had gone back to her and Katie's room, so she could spend some time with her before Katie went home with JJ, Panda and Effy. Emily had then chosen to stay in her old room, making it virtually impossible for Naomi to actually sleep. It was insane, but she had become used to being able to wake up in the middle of the night and make sure that Emily was there. She wasn't sure how she was going to sleep when Emily would be in a different continent all together.

"You sort things out with her before we left?" Cook murmured, squeezing her closer.

"Sort of." Naomi answered. "I mean, we need to get to know each other again. Take it slow and all that shit." She scoffed. "Fucking useless, if you ask me." Cook grinned at her.

"You just wanna go straight to the shagging part, right?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Well, she did do this thing with her tongue…" Naomi grinned back. She didn't feel the need to explain things further. Cook had been with her since the moment she figured out she was gay, had been there through all her previous relationships, or whatever they had been. He already knew that she usually slept with women first and asked questions later. Sometimes it had worked out fine, other times she had very nearly ended up with psycho stalkers following her around. "But I guess I should try the "adult" approach." She rolled her eyes.

"My Naomi, all grown up." Cook mocked, fake wiping a tear from his cheek. "I'm so fucking proud!" He grabbed her in a bear hug, nearly cutting off her air supply.

"Get off me, you pillock." Naomi slapped his arms, trying to get him to let go of her.

"You love me." He grinned, letting go of her.

"Unfortunately, you're right." She grinned back, feeling much better than she did before he came and sat down next to her. She felt like everything would be alright for once. It was a very strange feeling.

**-C.S-**

She watched them through the window, cigarette hanging limply from her hand. The moon hung low in the sky, illuminating the things the streetlights didn't. They seemed happy to be together, all of them, but she couldn't take it anymore. It had been too long since she had been alone, completely alone. She stared longingly across the road, wondering if she had to let the others know where she was going or not.

They were still missing Emily, she was somewhere in New York, deflecting attention away from the group. The strain on Katie was beginning to show, especially since Emily had called earlier with the news that she was being followed all of a sudden. She flicked the ash off her cigarette, before taking another drag. She wasn't too worried though, Emily could take care of herself. She glanced up and down the street, dropping the cigarette on the ground in front of her, stepping on it as she crossed the street. The others would figure out where she went anyways, and she had her phone if they needed to get a hold of her.

A quiet calm washed over her as soon as she entered the cemetery. She took her time, slowly making her way towards the middle of it. The gravel crunched softly under her feet, adding to the calming effect she was feeling. She never knew why that sound seemed to comfort her, make her feel safe, but just knew that it did. Her eyes glided over various headstones, stopping when something resonated in her head. It could be as simple as a name, or maybe the shape of the stone, possibly the dates on them, but something about them caught her eyes.

Time stopped being important, her mind lost in times that had long since passed. She imagined worlds and people that had been gone from quite some time. It could have been an hour, maybe more, maybe less, that she had stood there. She was vaguely aware that someone was coming up behind her, knowing that it was more than likely someone she knew that was looking for her. She still shoved her hand under her coat, letting rest over the gun she hid there. She preferred her shotgun to be honest, but that was slightly harder to conceal. It could be done, but guns were just easier to deal with.

The footsteps came closer. She cocked her head slightly to her side, noting the pace, the rhythm to them. She smiled softly, hand coming back out from under her coat. She knew that walk, she knew that voice huffing out a few choice swearwords. Reassured, she turned her full attention back to the headstone in front of her.

"There you are!" Katie sounded a bit out of breath, maybe a bit relieved. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"I know." Effy replied, not looking at her.

"I hate when you do that." Katie muttered, coming up fully beside her. Effy watched from the corner of her eye as she looked curiously at the headstone they were standing in front of.

"Do what?" Effy asked, already knowing the answer. She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, the air seemed cleaner here somehow.

"That whole little "know it all" routine. So not cute, Eff. In fact it's bloody annoying and just a teeny, tiny bit infuriating." Effy smirked slightly at that, turning a bit more towards Katie. Katie was smiling, taking the sting out of her words completely, she shifted even closer, letting their arms brush together. "What are you doing here, anyways? Thought you had enough of the place for one day."

"I like cemeteries." Effy offered with a shrug. Katie rolled her eyes at her, Effy idly thought that she had been spending a little too much time with Naomi lately. The message of the eye-roll was clear though, and she knew she had to elaborate. She sighed, taking in another breath, before starting. "They feel calm, specially at this time of night. I don't like funerals, hate them actually, but what sane person actually like those?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Cemeteries though, they're different."

"They are?" Katie asked softly, sounding a bit afraid that Effy would stop talking to her, or that she'd break the mood if she raised her voice.

"Yeah, they are." Effy stated, not really explaining the difference, but opting to go straight to what she thought of cemeteries. She figured that once she explained that, it would all become clear. "Like I said, they feel calm. Regardless of how people rush around, how they always seem to be in a hurry, they always slow when they come through those gates." She tilted her head towards the entrance. "I like that the air seems fresher here, like I can breathe properly. And then there are these…" She pointed to the headstone in front of them. "They fascinate me, makes me imagine the lives they led, wonder who they were." She reached out, gently tracing the faded lettering on the stone. "If they ever were loved." She added under her breath, she wasn't sure Katie could hear her, wasn't sure she had even wanted her to hear.

"I don't know…" Katie answered, making Effy retract her hand and turn more towards her. "Cemeteries just gives me the creeps. And that it's all dark… Not really making it better." Katie was looking around, a small frown on her face. "You never know what's around you, who's watching you." Effy noted the small shiver that seemed to flow through her as she spoke and smiled slightly to herself.

"Who knew? The fearless Katie Fitch, afraid of ghosts." She chuckled, using Katie's real name for once. She was currently going under some pretentious hyphened last name that just sounded ridiculous.

"Am not!" Katie answered indignantly, her voice cracking minutely, betraying the lie. Effy let her smile grow bigger. "Oh, shut up." Katie grumbled when she looked up and saw the amusement on Effy's face. "It's just… Emily used to tell these horrible ghost stories to James when we were kids. He loved them, of course, demanded a new story every night. And since he more or less slept in our room, I had to listen to every last one." She trailed off, staring out across the cemetery, obviously lost in a memory. Effy couldn't help studying her, eyes tracing Katie's features in the pale moonlight. She was simply breath-taking, Effy felt her heart clench almost painfully in her chest. "Anyways…" Katie continued, completely oblivious to breaking the spell Effy had been under. "Almost all the stories took place in cemeteries."

Effy cleared her throat, trying to work some moisture back in her mouth, before letting her gaze sweep over the multitude of monuments. Monuments that spoke of various fates, good or bad. She looked back at Katie, finding her studying as intently as she herself had been studying her just seconds ago. Suddenly Effy wanted nothing more than to show her, to make her truly see, the wonders of the place they were in.

"Come." She said, reaching out and taking Katie's hand. Katie looked down at their joined hands, smiling softly. In that moment, it didn't matter that they had already slept together, or that they had held hands more times than Effy could count. It felt like the first time, there was butterflies and warmth and Effy wondered why she hadn't noticed that before.

"Where are we going?" Katie asked as Effy started walking.

"I'm going to show you what I see." Effy answered, hoping Katie knew that she never let people in like this. Hoping she knew how special this was. "I want to make you see… Will you come with me?" She stopped, wanting to make sure that it was alright. She looked back over her shoulder, the smile Katie sent her was radiant. Effy felt herself relax slightly, smiling softly back.

"Of course I will." Katie answered, sounding like it was the most obvious answer in the world. Effy squeezed her hand lightly, before they continued to walk towards the middle of the cemetery.

**-C.S-**

The streets were packed, the perfect place to lose someone and still she hadn't managed to yet. She could feel eyes crawling all over her, like tiny little spiders walking up and down her spine. The window in front of her was just a generic shop window, nothing fancy at all, but to anyone looking she was studying what was in it intently. She could practically hear Naomi's voice in her head, telling her that to read a street, she should use any reflective surface around her. At this angle, the window was damn near perfect.

She had spotted her tail several blocks ago. He seemed oblivious to that fact though, the way he was casually leaning against a cart a little further up the street. As far as tails went, he was perfect for the job. A non-descript looking man, nothing suspicious about him really, except for the fact that he had followed her from the subway station. She hadn't tried to shake him yet, curious to find out if there were more people following her. Assessing the street, she came to the conclusion that he was alone. Grabbing the phone from her pocket, she casually started walking again. She hit a button on her speed dial, the call went through in seconds.

"It's me." She cast a glance around under the guise of crossing the street, her eyes slid over him, making sure he was still there. "I've got company."

"Same as before?" The voice on the other end washed over her, soothing her, and she could feel some of the tension in her shoulders ease slightly.

"Looks like it." She answered easily, heading towards a coffee shop she knew was around the corner from where she was. "How'd things go on your end?"

"Katie and Effy picked up James just 30 minutes ago, I was just about to call you. They're on their way to what Effy has dubbed the safe house." There was a chuckle on the other end. "I swear she thinks she's in some kind of spy movie sometimes."

"So you're on your way too?" She walked through the coffee shop, smiling at one of the employees as she walked past him on her way to the backdoor. It was why she liked this place, the double entrance served her purposes quite nicely.

"Yeah, we just have some things to take care of, and we're on our way too." Emily stopped to let an old lady in to the shop, holding the door open for her. "We're setting up an account for Thommo's family." Naomi offered on the other end. "JJ is tracking down his personal accounts as we speak, so we can transfer them to their names."

"That's wonderful, Naomi." Emily murmured as she disappeared down a nearly empty alleyway, heading for the nearest subway station. "I'm sure it'll be greatly appreciated."

"It was Panda's idea really, she said he was still sending money home for them. I just thought that things might be tough if the money stopped coming. Besides… It's the least I can do." She sounded sad, Emily wished she was already there so that she could touch her. Or maybe so she could hit the back of her head and tell her it wasn't her fault.

"I thought we'd sorted this." She said instead, letting some of her annoyance shine through. "Now, listen to me and you better listen good. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. OK? So stop blaming yourself. The guy that's responsible is behind bars, the guy who shot Thommo is dead and you did everything you could."

"I know." Naomi sighed, falling silent. Emily let her have a minute, using the time to scan her surroundings. No one seemed to be following her this time, she walked into a relatively quiet store to make sure.

"Hang on a sec." She told Naomi, lowering her phone and addressing a clerk. "Excuse me, there's this creepy guy that's been following me around, he just can't seem to take a hint. Do you by any chance have a backdoor I could slip out of?" She smiled apologetically at him, trembling slightly, playing the scared little victim. It was a ruse that had gotten her out of a few tight spots before, she hoped it would work here too. The clerks eyebrows rose as he took in the story, she had to work not to smirk at his predictability. That would have probably ruined the image of a scared little woman, running from some big bad man.

"Of course!" He exclaimed. "Just follow me and I'll walk you out." He ushered her past a storage room and out to a door at the back. "Here you go." He smiled, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Thank you so much." She battered her eyelashes at him, smiling demurely. "If he comes looking…"

"You were never here." He promised, blushing as she leant in and kissed his cheek.

"You're the best." She beamed. The smile slid right off the moment she turned her back on him, lifting her phone back up to her ear. "You still there, Naoms?"

"Trading up, are we?" Emily swore she could hear the teasing glint in Naomi's eyes. "I don't blame you, he sounded quite helpful."

"Yes, clearly I will choose a pimply, blushing schoolboy over you. Who wouldn't?" She crossed yet another street, casting a watchful eye around.

"Clearly." Naomi agreed, with a smile in her voice.

"I lost my tail." Emily concluded out loud, changing the mood from playful to serious in an instant.

"Good. There's a plane waiting to take you home… Well, can't promise it will actually wait for you, but it leaves in about 3 hours. Call me again if you can't make it for some reason and we'll sort something else for you."

"Shouldn't be a problem, just need to pick up my suitcase from Grand Central Station and get to the airport." Emily answered, calculating how long it would take her. She looked up at the street sign. "I'm just two blocks away from the station now."

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem then." Naomi fell silent for a minute. "I'm glad you're on your way back." She admitted softly. "I… I've… umm… missed you." Emily clutched her phone with both hands, trying to swallow the sudden lump in her throat so she could answer. "Right… I should probably go. Cook just came through the door. See you soon." She sounded defeated, Emily frowned, before stopping dead in the middle of the street. She realised that Naomi had taken her nonverbal reply to mean that she didn't feel the same way.

"Wait!" She shouted desperately at her phone, making a number of the people around her look at her rather curiously.

"I'm still here." Naomi answered. "No need to make me go deaf." She joked, Emily could tell her heart wasn't really in it though.

"Right." She said sheepishly. "I just wanted to say that I… Well… I miss you too. I just thought you should know."

**-C.S-**

She watched her from across the street, hidden behind a corner. Her eyes scanned the area every now and then, but they always returned to the woman across the street. She could hear her mother's voice in her head, telling her that even though it looked like there was nothing amiss, didn't mean that it was always so. Figuring that it wouldn't be fair to keep the other waiting, she made her way across to the other side and slid up behind her.

"Looking for someone?" She murmured almost directly in her ear, grinning when she saw the tension drain from the other woman. She loved being able to do that.

"Not anymore." The reply came swiftly, followed by the other woman leaning into her ever so slightly. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to call me with the address, not show up like this."

"Are you complaining?" She teased.

"Maybe I am. Maybe I wanted to find my own way." The words were contradicted by the way a hand sought out her own, tugging her closer, not that there had been much space between them to begin with. "I missed you."

"So I've heard." She replied playfully, squeezing the hand in her own lightly. "I like what you've done with your hair, by the way." She emphasised her point by burying her nose in it, placing a small kiss against a temple. "It suits you." Emily finally turned around, smiling up at her.

"Thought it would make me easier to follow around." She shrugged. "Besides, I like red." Naomi watched the grin on her face and couldn't help grinning back. Actually, she didn't think she had stopped grinning since she had laid eyes on her.

"I'm sure it did." She answered, raising her hand and sweeping Emily's bangs out of her eyes. "We should get going, Cook's around the corner with the car." Emily nodded at her, eyes sparkling, she looked happy. Naomi tore her eyes away reluctantly and stepped out of the impromptu embrace. She hadn't planned for that to happen, but she didn't regret that it did. Truth was that Emily always felt damned near perfect when she was in her arms. Hell, the entire world seemed damned near perfect in those moments. It was something she had feared initially and especially when Emily came back, but now… Now it felt like that was the feeling she was supposed to have. She couldn't bring herself to let go of Emily's hand.

"We should get going then." Emily answered, reaching for her suitcase, Naomi beat her to it.

"I'll take that." She murmured, lifting the suitcase easily. "Come on." She continued before Emily had a chance to object. "Cook might get antsy and decide we've been kidnapped or something." She grinned, leading Emily back across the street, walking purposefully towards where she had left Cook and the car.

"You know, you don't have to carry my suitcase." Emily sounded amused, Naomi turned her head towards her and saw the smirk on her face. She raised an eyebrow at her, cocking her head to the side.

"Why? Did you want to carry it?" She asked. "Cause you're more than welcome to." She stopped, placing the suitcase on the ground with a smirk of her own. Again, amusement flashed across Emily's face.

"No, what I meant was that it has wheels." Emily laughed.

"Maybe I wanted to impress you with my carrying skills." Naomi answered, chuckling along with Emily. It felt nice to be able to laugh together like this. It didn't hurt that Emily was fucking gorgeous when she laughed, or that the sound sent shivers down her back. Naomi couldn't think of a sound that was more perfect, except for maybe… She shook her head slightly, dispelling the images that popped into her head. Images of Emily writing underneath her, moaning her name. She swallowed, grabbing the suitcase again and tugging slightly on Emily's hand to get her moving again.

"Well, consider me impressed." Emily answered when her laughter died down. The mirth still heavy in her voice. Naomi just smiled back at her and shook her head.

They continued in silence, it felt comfortable for once. Naomi caught herself staring at Emily's profile and forced herself to look away, opting to scan their surroundings instead. It was unlikely that Emily had been followed back to London, but being careful had never hurt anyone. She turned down an alley, leading Emily along. She drew them to a stop when they rounded the corner, the street they were on was deserted. She hadn't wanted to say it out loud, but part of why she was carrying the suitcase and not wheeling it, was for more stealth. Emily opened her mouth to say something, but Naomi silenced her with a look and motioned her to stay put. She sat the suitcase down, letting go of Emily's hand too and fished a handheld mirror out of her pocket, making sure the alley was as empty as when they had walked down it. Satisfied that it was, she made her way back to Emily.

"We good?" Emily asked as soon as they were moving again.

"Yeah, just wanted to make sure no one was following, that's all." Naomi downplayed the bad feeling in her gut, the small knot in her stomach saying there was more to Emily being followed around in New York then just making sure she was still in town. She saw the small frown on Emily's face and knew that she hadn't really been successful in hiding it completely.

"Who do you think it is?" Emily asked, she didn't have to explain what she meant, Naomi knew what she was asking.

"Could be anyone." She answered. "I really have no idea." It was true, she really didn't, but she had her suspicions. Her and Cook had discussed it at length when they first found out Emily and Katie had been hired to find out all kinds of stuff about them. The fact that it was Cook that was the initial target, had been the number one thing that baffled them. It complicated everything really. They were ghosts in the underworld, but everyone that mattered knew that they came as a package deal. That alluded to someone that wasn't necessarily affiliated with the crime world. Or someone that had been in jail. Or maybe someone who had been in hiding. The last option had sparked a slight hope that it was her dad that was looking for her, but the threat to Emily's brother didn't fit what she knew about him. Her dad would never drag innocent people in to this. There was still that little spark of a hope, it was unlikely, but it just wouldn't extinguish.

"There you are!" Cook's voice brought her out of her head, she grinned at him as he swooped Emily into his arms, twirling her around. Emily let out some strangled, half-choked noises in response.

"Put her down before you make her hurl, Cook."

"Oops, sorry." Cook answered sheepishly. "It's just that you've been a right stroppy cow lately and I wanted to express my joy that Emilio is here to sort you out." He grinned wolfishly at her.

"Shut up and make yourself useful for once." She grinned back at him as she showed the suitcase at him. "Be a good boy and put this in the back." He mock saluted her, before scrambling to comply.

"Stroppy cow, huh?" Emily asked, eyes twinkling.

"Oh yes, the worst kind." Cook answered. "So glad you've come to sort her out, we were beginning to consider tying her up in the closet or something." He laughed when Naomi gave him the finger in response.

"I'll sort her out, Cook, don't worry about it." Emily declared, grinning.

"If you're both quite done..?" Naomi grumbled good-naturedly, rolling her eyes, holding the door open for Emily to climb into the car. Emily grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly in thanks and got in. Naomi went around, thumping Cook on the back as he heaved the suitcase into the trunk, getting in on the other side. Cook took the wheel moments later.

"How does it feel to be home, Red?" He asked as he pulled out.

"Wonderful." Emily answered as she looked at Naomi. "It feels wonderful." Naomi met her eyes and got the feeling that she wasn't just talking about being back in England. She silently extended her hand towards Emily, smiling back when the action caused Emily to smile shyly at her, entwining their fingers. It really did feel wonderful.

**-C.S-**

**If you find mistakes, it's just cause it's 6 in the morning and they've probably escaped my attention... **

**Right, you all know what to do down here, or do I need to give you directions? *grins***


	11. Parts of you

**A/N: **Hi there, remember me? (Es, don't answer that.) It's ok if you don't, really... It's been quite a while and well, hard as hell to get back to this story. Anyways, won't bore you with details of my life (it mostly consists of school, work, uni and if I can manage, food and sleep), and just tell you about this chapter instead. It's a first in CS history, just the one part. I wanted to add to it and have another element in there, but this kind of ran away with itself. So without much more rambling on my part... Here you go, chapter 11.

**Chapter 11: Parts of you.**

Her sleep schedule was fucked. There was no other word for it. Well, none that she could think of as she stared up at the ceiling. It was some time just before the ass-crack of dawn, she could tell that the sun would be up in just a matter of minutes. The light in her room had taken on a bluish tint, either that or she had just gotten used to the dark. Jet lag didn't even begin to cover it really, was barely even an adequate description. She closed her eyes and tried to take even measured breaths, only to huff a few seconds later and roll over. It was pretty much pointless to try any more, but she closed her eyes again and hoped for just 10 more minutes of sleep. Huffing again, she flipped her pillow over and punched it a few times for good measure, it didn't make a difference though. She was still wide awake.

Stretching one last time, she threw her blankets off and got up. The lack of sleep made her dizzy for a moment. The whole situation was starting to become a problem, she hadn't slept properly for more than a week. Days were starting to bleed into one another. She knew that by lunch time she'd be an absolute wreck, only functioning on caffeine and sugar. The others were starting to worry, she could see it in their eyes at times, but none of them had actually said anything yet. Not for the first time, she contemplated getting her hands on some sleeping tablets. The thought was quickly dismissed. Grabbing the first shirt she saw and throwing it on, she exited her bedroom.

She had expected the apartment to be silent, like it had been the other days she'd woken up, instead there was a faint murmur of a voice coming from the other bedroom. It didn't take her long to deduce that what was for all intents and purposes her flatmate, was on the phone. There was a defeated quality to that voice that she didn't like. She frowned, following the sound. The door was ajar, so the closer she got, the more of the conversation she was able to hear.

"…don't care about that, get it done." She could hear a tinny murmur confirming her suspicions regarding the phone. "I told you it's not important. Just make sure it looks good." The tone of voice was equal parts pleading and demanding. As she got closer to the bedroom door, she could feel a slight breeze on her ankles, hear the hum of the city in the background. "Exactly." She could hear the click of a lighter and seconds later she smelled the tell-tale sign of a cigarette. "Now get some sleep, you must be exhausted." There was a slight pause and a chuckle, she smiled when she heard it. "I will. Night Cook." The apartment fell silent.

There was a moment where she let the silence envelope her, closing her eyes, just feeling it. She could hear Naomi shift in her room, the sound of curtains being drawn, she wasn't sure if they were being closed or opened. Uncertainty rose in her, she wasn't sure if she should open the door or not. In the end, curiosity won out. She took the last step to Naomi's door, pushing it open slowly and silently.

She intended to say hi, to alert Naomi to her presence, she really did. The moment her eyes fell on Naomi though, her brain froze. Her mouth fell open as she took in the scene in front of her. Naomi was leaning casually on the railing of a Juliette balcony, clad only in a leather jacket and underwear. She couldn't focus on anything but the skin on display, the way the jacket was riding up every time Naomi lifted the cigarette to her lips. The whole scene seemed somewhat surreal with the way the early light was illuminating her, framing her against the skyline.

The stand-still in her brain lasted for longer than she would have liked, a heavy feeling of breathlessness settled in her chest. She had hardly seen Naomi since she got back from New York. It wasn't because she hadn't wanted to spend time alone with Naomi, but because 5 minutes after she got through the doors, 5 minutes spent staring like a love-struck fool at Naomi, Katie had come bursting through the doors and basically demanded her attention. After that someone had just always seemed to be around, or Naomi had been out, or had been occupied in some manner. There had been looks, of course, the occasional brushing of hands, a stolen moment here and there, but they hadn't really been able to talk to one another, let alone anything else. Here she was though, all alone, hardly dressed. Emily licked her lips as the images of how the next hours could play out, assaulted her mind.

At first it was innocent, images of herself stalking across the room soundlessly, wrapping herself around Naomi and only that, but it morphed. She could see clearly the look of surprise the action would have brought to Naomi's face, morphing into delight and finally to lust. Naomi would spin around to face her next, a smirk on her lips, an eyebrow cocked. The images flashed to the both of them naked, pressed together, nails scraping across skin. She always imagined it like that, a chaos of limbs tangling together, an urgent need taking over her body, but here she was. Frozen in place, not quite knowing how to even approach Naomi.

She tore her eyes away from the naked legs in front of her, focussing on the back of Naomi's head instead. Her hair was longer and somehow softer looking, than the first time she had seen her. She had felt the same fiery need then, but had disregarded it, shook it off as purely lust. It had taken root in her though, grown stronger, larger. It had even been there when she had tried to push Naomi away, when she had betrayed her in the worst way. She knew now, she saw it, saw that it had always been there, but she had been too stubborn to recognise it. Too afraid to believe in it. It had taken a dirty alley and Naomi kissing someone else, fucking someone else. Emily didn't blame her, she really didn't, and in Naomi's place she would have probably done the same. Her fists were clenched at the thought of it, nails digging painfully into her palms. She might have understood Naomi's motives, but it still hurt to think about. She closed her eyes briefly, inhaling heavily, letting the tension melt from her shoulders. When she opened her eyes again, Naomi was staring back at her.

"Hi." She breathed, her voice failing her. Once again, she was knocked breathless. A soft smile played on Naomi's lips, a smile she knew was just for her.

"Hi yourself." Naomi murmured back, turning to face her more fully. The leather jacket was open in front, shifting with the movement. Emily traced the uninterrupted line from Naomi's face down to her underwear. Her throat suddenly felt very dry.

"You're up late, or is it early?" She followed the same line of sight back up, her eyes connecting with a pair of mirthful blue eyes. Naomi's head was cocked to the side, the smile more playful then it had been a moment ago. Emily found herself taking a step forward, smiling back.

"Does it matter?" Naomi asked.

"Not really. I was just wondering, that's all." Her hand was suddenly grazing the top of the bedspread on the bed, she wasn't really aware of actually walking towards Naomi at all. It felt like a dream, one she didn't want to wake up from.

"Anything else you were wondering about?" The purring quality in Naomi's voice wasn't lost on her, neither was the teasing eyebrow shooting up. It was the exact same expression she had imagined just moments ago.

"Maybe." Emily shot back, grinning openly. "Maybe, I'm wondering why you are all the way over there." She might not be able to purr like Naomi, but she sure as hell could put a husky spin on it.

"Are you now?" Emily nodded at the question. "Well... I better do something about that then." Naomi came closer as she talked, hips swaying. "How's this?" She stopped a few paces from Emily.

"Oh, I think you can do better than that." Emily licked her lips, Naomi was close enough for her to vaguely catch a whiff of leather, cigarettes and something that was purely Naomi. The scent got stronger as Naomi took the last few steps forward. She stopped right in front of her, close enough that there was barely a few inches between them.

"And now?" Naomi's voice was barely a whisper, eyes hypnotizing.

"I suppose that will have to do." Emily shrugged, feigning indifference. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up and it felt like fireworks were going off all over her body. She couldn't stop smiling.

"Well, I think I could do even better." Naomi shuffled even closer, lips a hairsbreadth from Emily's. "Like this perhaps?" The closeness was maddening, it amazed her how close they could get to one another without actually touching. Her heart was thundering, echoing loudly in her ears, she wondered momentarily if Naomi could hear it. The thought dropped away when she felt Naomi exhale, a gust of air against her lips. She stared wonderingly up at Naomi's rapidly darkening eyes.

"Is this a dream?" She asked stupidly. Naomi's eyes slipped shut for a moment, like she was savouring something. It was fascinating, Emily wanted to reach out and trace the lines on her face. The eyes opened again before she could move her arm more than halfway up.

"God, I hope not." Naomi answered hoarsely, her hand coming up between them, tucking a strand of Emily's hair behind her ear. Emily shivered at the touch, leaning into it, surrendering to it.

"You're still not close enough." She murmured, finally letting herself grab on to the leather jacket, tugging Naomi even closer. She almost groaned at the feeling of Naomi's bare legs against her own, the familiarity of her shape pressed into her. In some ways it felt new, in others it felt like coming home. Her heart was racing, struggling to sync up with the one she could feel beating just as wildly as her own.

There were no more words to be said. The amused quirk of Naomi's eyebrow told her she wanted to respond to Emily's statement, but Emily simply silenced her with her lips.

The kiss was slow, soft, just a simple caress of lips. She could feel Naomi's hands twitching at her hips, drawing her closer, always closer. Emily let one of her own hands glide upwards to Naomi's neck and into her hair, holding her in place, not that it was needed, it didn't feel like Naomi was going anywhere. She was overheating by the time Naomi finally began kissing her properly, moaning when their tongues met, her knees almost giving out. She was hyperaware of the sounds surrounding her, the creaking of leather, the gentle rumble of the city in the background. And then there were the sounds Naomi was making, the quiet sighs she almost couldn't hear, but felt as her fingers skimmed Naomi's collar bone. The slight growl when she tugged gently at her hair, or scraped her nails over a certain spot on her neck. Breathing was becoming a serious issue though and she reluctantly pulled her lips away, opening eyes she wasn't even aware of closing.

"Still think it's a dream?" The voice was breathless, weak, but Naomi's eyes were burning, swallowing her whole. She shook her head, not able to find her voice, hoping her own eyes were burning half as bright.

She wanted to go back to the kissing, she wanted to bury her nose in Naomi's neck and just inhale, she wanted to feel more skin against her own. Thankfully, Naomi seemed to have similar ideas, her hands suddenly under Emily's t-shirt. Emily's response was to drag Naomi backwards with her, before tugging her lips back down to her own. By the time the back of her knees hit the bed, they were both shaking. Where she once would have flipped them around and simply thrown Naomi on to it, she now let herself be guided backwards and gently lowered.

It felt different now, nothing like it had used to be before. Before it had been animalistic, simply a way of getting off as fast and hard as possible, preferably multiple times. Naomi had tried a gentler approach once, tried taking it slower, Emily remembered actually fucking her into submission. Naomi had never tried a second time, seemingly content with the almost violent way they had fucked. The way Naomi's hand shook when she pushed the t-shirt up and off of Emily's body, the almost reverent way she looked at her, that told a completely different story. Her own notions of sex was that it was something to be used to control other people, to make them like her or do what she wanted, or that it simply was a way of getting off. All those reasons just fell away. This was about connecting, forgiveness and about love. She could feel all of it coming from Naomi in waves, overwhelming her.

Sitting up slightly, Naomi halfway straddling her, she pushed at the leather jacket. As sexy as it was on, it would look even better when it was off. Besides, she was craving the skin on skin contact, had been since they started this.

"Off" She muttered with a faint hint of a growl, hands already sliding against Naomi's shoulders, helping the process along.

Naomi sat up further to shrug out of the jacket completely. Emily surged forward, unable to help herself when she saw the way Naomi's back arched, kissing, licking, nipping at Naomi's neck. Reluctantly pulling away when Naomi tugged at her hair, dragging her mouth back up to her lips. Their mouths crashed together, tongues almost violently thrusting at each other, but Naomi's hands were drawing soft circles on Emily's back and Emily's own hands were just softly squeezing at Naomi's thighs. The bruising intensity of the kiss was eventually broken, mostly because of the gasp Naomi uttered when Emily raked her nails gently down her back.

"You're making me crazy." Naomi whispered against her neck, just as Emily tilted her head to give her better access. "Just absolutely insane." The mouth made its way downwards as Emily once again was lowered properly on to the bed.

"I can assure you that… oh fuck!" Lips closed over a nipple and Emily's felt her body arch upwards all on its own. "Jesus, you're good at that." She moaned, clutching Naomi's head closer, feeling her smirk in response. She bucked her hips up, making sure Naomi could feel just how much she really did mean her words, and was rewarded by a deep groan. The vibrations caused her to buck up again. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that they were both still wearing their underwear, she wanted the damn things off and she wanted them off now.

Naomi's skin was smooth under her fingers, she traced the muscles in her arms, the shoulder blade, raking her nails through her hair. She wanted to flip them over, to explore every inch of skin, but Naomi was doing sinful things to her body and she could only cling to her, hoping there was enough left of her when Naomi was done. Finally, Naomi dragged her hands down, toying with the waistband of Emily's underwear. She lifted her hips again, hoping Naomi would take the hint, but the touch lingered there and didn't seem to move. She let out half an annoyed huff, half a pleasured groan as Naomi bit down gently on her neck. Everywhere their skin touches burns deliciously, but it wasn't enough, she still wanted them both naked. She wanted to feel what she was doing to Naomi, wanted Naomi to feel fully what she was doing to her.

"I need you to…" She gasped, breaking off when she felt Naomi shift to hover above her, a thigh pressed against her just the right way. She wanted to practically hump that thigh until she came spectacularly. She forced her eyes open, finding herself shielded from the rest of the room by Naomi's hair, vaguely aware of the death grip she now had on the other woman's biceps. The intense way Naomi was looking at her, stole her breath.

"What do you need, Emily?" There was that wonderful smirk again, the one promising all the dirty, filthy things Naomi wanted to do to her. "More of this?" The thigh between Emily's legs flexed, pressed down just a little bit harder. The breath Emily had been holding rushed out of her. Naomi bent her head down, her nose grazing Emily's cheek, a light nip to her earlobe and that voice was purring in her ear. "Whatever you want, just tell me."

"Naked." Emily managed to gasp, eyes clasped shut. "I want you naked." Naomi exhaled heavily on to her neck, Emily could feel the air rushing out of her.

"You have no idea what you do to me, do you?" Naomi sighed in her ear. The admission cleared some of the fog in Emily's brain. She blindly reached for Naomi's hand, guiding it down in to her own underwear. She opened her eyes, using her other hand to make Naomi look at her. She tried conveying the trust she felt without words. Naomi's eyes were nearly black, there was just a small ring of blue left.

"If it's anything like what you do to me…" The moment Naomi's hand made contact, she shuddered almost violently. Naomi's eyes slipped shut above her, a deep moan spilling from her lips. "Take them off." She whispered. "Don't…" She released a gasp of her own when Naomi's fingers twitched slightly. "Don't make me beg." She felt Naomi's body faintly tremble under her fingertips, the slight coating of sweat already present. It felt amazing.

"I won't." Naomi answered, visibly steeling herself before removing her hand. Parts of her wanted to violently protest the removal, wanted to grab on harder to the arm she was already holding and shove it back into her underwear. To just demand that Naomi got on with the fucking and make her come already. The protests brewing in her was silenced with a light kiss to her lips and another to her shoulder as Naomi withdrew from her. On instinct, Emily followed her up and leant on her elbows to really look at Naomi. The sight in front of her was almost painfully beautiful, her hair in wild tangles, her skin shimmering slightly, her lips swollen. She wished she had a camera, but at the same time wanted nothing more than to be the only one to ever see this.

"So fucking gorgeous." She stated, not even aware of saying it out loud until she noticed the flush on Naomi's skin deepen as the words reached her ears.

"You're not so bad yourself." Naomi countered, her eyes roaming over Emily's body. It felt like a caress, every part Naomi's eyes landed on tingled in expectation. Emily hungrily watched as she took off her own underwear. She almost moaned when she felt hands move slowly up her ankles, tickling the undersides of her knees, continuing upwards. Lifting her hips, to allow Naomi to finally remove her last piece of clothing. She bit her lips in anticipation, opening her legs to Naomi. She watched as those already almost black eyes became even darker, the way a tongue came out to wet those already swollen lips and felt her body hum in response.

"Come here." She breathed after a while, reaching for Naomi, tugging her down on top of her. The feeling when their bodies finally met without any barriers, nearly short-circuited her brain. Naomi was everywhere, all she could feel. Still she wanted her closer, wanted more of her. She grabbed Naomi's hair, kissing her with all she had. The way their bodies met was almost enough, but at the same time it wasn't. She needed more, so much more.

"Jesus!" Naomi exclaimed when Emily managed to snake a hand between them and glide over her clit, breaking their kiss. Emily watched in fascination as Naomi's head flew back and her back arched. The muscles in her throat working, the steady beat of a pulse, the same pulse she could feel under her fingertips. "So not fair." Naomi groaned above her.

"What's not fair?" She smirked, suddenly more focussed on Naomi's pleasure then her own. Her fingertips drawing lazy circles on Naomi's back, mimicking the actions of the other hand. Naomi groaned in response, head falling forwards sharply, her hips bucking in time with the sensation. "Oh, you mean this." Emily let her fingers glide downwards, only faintly dipping in to her, stilling her motions completely. Naomi panted above her, hips undulating, clearly seeking friction. "How is this not fair?" Emily asked teasingly.

"Oh God." Naomi groaned, Emily waited until she lifted her head, until she actually saw Naomi's mouth open in protest and thrust into her at the exact same moment. The protest became a loud moan instead.

"Still think it's unfair?" She whispered into Naomi's ear, kissing her shoulder soothingly. Incoherent words flew out of Naomi's mouth, a non-stop string of swearing following closely. She could feel how close she was, feel the tension between Naomi's shoulder blades, the fluttering around her fingers. Her arm was already burning, the angle being all wrong. She forgot all about it when Naomi's hand suddenly came into contact with her own clit.

"I think…" Naomi panted. "I think we're even now" She managed to get out, replicating Emily's motions. The sensations were almost too much, Emily was vaguely aware of her rhythm faltering a bit, before picking it up again. "I want…" Naomi continued, struggling to form words.

Emily didn't blame her, she didn't think she'd be able to string together anything not containing the words: harder, faster, right there and maybe a few encouraging, well timed, swear words.

"Together." Naomi grunted. "I want… together." Emily's mind sluggishly processed the request, before she moaned something that could be taken for agreement. Naomi shifted above her, allowing Emily more access and herself a bit more leverage.

"So close." She gasped. Her world was narrowed, containing only feelings and sensations. The slide of skin against skin, the sounds Naomi was making, the feel of fingers so amazingly moving inside her, Naomi's mouth near her ear. It was like she was just soaking up all these impressions and it just kept building inside her. The feeling was nearly unbearable, almost too much.

Naomi didn't have to answer, at least not verbally, her body was practically screaming her reply at Emily. The hand on her breast tightened seemingly of its own accord, she felt the muscles in Naomi's arm flexing, could feel herself tightening around those glorious fingers. Naomi must have felt it too, because the next thing she knew, Naomi's teeth sunk almost painfully into her shoulder. The action made her twitch, made her curl one hand and drag the other up Naomi's back, almost hard enough to break skin. She felt Naomi tense even more, almost freezing above her. It made her redouble her efforts to push her over the edge.

"Let go, Naomi…" She panted, not really knowing where she got the strength to even talk. "I'm right behind you, I swear… Let go, I got you." It was like this was what Naomi had been waiting for, she came with a high pitched keening moan. Emily came maybe a breath later, an answering cry in her lips. The feeling of being overwhelmed, finally let go. All she was left with, was a general feeling of love, peace and happiness. She could feel Naomi still shaking on top of her, having collapsed totally when she came. The weight felt reassuring, like it was anchoring her in reality. She gently caressed Naomi's back, waiting for her to come around, to look at her.

"I love you." The words were quiet, gentle, if they hadn't been spoken almost directly into her ear she would have missed it entirely. She might have even mistaken it for a sigh. "So much." Naomi rolled off her slightly, rearranging herself, they were still touching everywhere.

"I love you too." Emily breathed back, she couldn't stop running her hands over every trace of skin she could find, couldn't stop the many kisses she dropped at any place she could reach. She wondered why they had never done this before, why they had never toned it down so much before, but she recognized that it was probably her own fault. She hadn't wanted to get too close, hadn't wanted to make herself vulnerable. She didn't feel vulnerable though, she felt absolutely amazing.

The exhaustion hit her like a freight train, suddenly and head on. It didn't help that Naomi was currently drawing random patterns on her stomach. The weeks of next to no sleep was catching up to her in no time. Yawning quite loudly, she snuggled deeper into Naomi's embrace, trying to get closer to the warmth Naomi was radiating.

"Are you cold?" Naomi whispered, moving away from her. Emily voiced her protest of the warmth leaving with a slight whine, too tired to actually speak. Grabbing at Naomi's waist, trying to drag her back to her. "Shh, I'm right here, I'm just going to move you so we can get under the blankets." The arms came back around her, lifting her up like she was a ragdoll. If she hadn't been so damn tired she knew she would have been instantly ready to go again at that little display of strength.

"Love you." She murmured into Naomi's neck, lips automatically delivering a kiss there. Her neck tasted salty, she wished desperately that she wasn't utterly exhausted. "So tired, sorry…" She yawned again. "We're not done, I want to…" Another yawn.

"It's alright, you just sleep. We have plenty of time…" She felt herself being lowered on to the bed, blankets coming up to cover her.

"Stay." She mumbled "Stay with me." She was vaguely aware of the room getting darker, as if someone were closing the drapes, before the bed dipping and a rush of air told her that Naomi had gotten under the covers too.

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." Again Emily burrowed into Naomi's warmth, feeling utterly exhausted, but content. Finally sleep came, without her having to fight for it. The last thing she remembered was Naomi murmuring words in her ear. The words blended in to each other, following her into her dreams.

**-C.S-**

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**I swear, these characters have a life of their own sometimes (read; all the time!) and then there are chapters like these, this part was supposed to be around 2k words at the most... Oh well, are any of you complaining? (Again, Es... Don't answer that.) Thanks to Stunty for that little tidbit about the juliette balcony, I had originally a whole conversation around it, but that turned out all forced and wrong, so...**

**Ah yes, feel free to yell about hiatuses and stuff in a review.**


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